Mason junior lacrosse player gets endorsement from Bengals kicker McPherson

One of the top-scoring players in Greater Cincinnati high school lacrosse recently received a hearty vote of approval from a prominent Cincinnati Bengal.

Evan McPherson, who kicked the Bengals into the Super Bowl with an overtime strike in the AFC championship game in Kansas City, is a big fan of Mason's Weston Simmons, so much so that in the recent Cincinnati Enquirer Athlete of the Week balloting, he lobbied on his behalf via Twitter.

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To connect the dots, McPherson is the rocket-legged Bengals placekicker who won the job after being drafted out of the University of Florida. Cincinnati's long-time special teams' coach is Darrin Simmons, father of Weston.

Weston Simmons recently found the net six times in a win over Oak Hills, earning his nomination for Enquirer Athlete of the Week honors. In Thursday's "Battle of the Skies," Simmons scored two goals helping the Comets defeat Sycamore's Aviators 8-4.

Afterward, Simmons discussed having some NFL clout on social media.

"After practice, I looked at my phone and I couldn't believe my eyes," Simmons said of Bengal No. 2 supporting him for Enquirer No. 1. "It was crazy! I didn't believe it at first, I thought it was fake for a second, but I went over to his (McPherson's) page and saw a little checkmark to know he was verified. It was the real deal."

Simmons has met McPherson just once, after the Super Bowl. Because of COVID-19 restrictions with the NFL he hasn't had access to him at Paul Brown Stadium.

Darrin Simmons sees McPherson nearly every day during football season, but Weston said he was unaware if his dad mentioned anything to McPherson about this vote.

Simmons has played lacrosse since sixth grade, though his father, a former Kansas quarterback, knew very little about the sport. Weston Simmons also plays football for Mason for coach Brian Castner. Last fall he had 42 tackles at safety and an interception.

Head Mason lacrosse coach Jeff Bumiller would like to see more football players like Weston grab a stick and join the Comets. He'd also like to see some Bengals like McPherson in the stands.

"It's always good to get people invested in the game, show it to a few more people and hopefully get a few more kids out here to play," Bumiller said.

Mason is the defending Greater Miami Conference champion (shared with Sycamore) and Simmons was all-league a year ago. Though 4-3 overall, they're 3-0 in the GMC thanks to their challenging schedule designed to make them better come tournament time.

Simmons is a big part of the mix. Having moved to midfield, his swiftness utilized as a football safety comes in handy. So does the mental and physical preparation possessed by the son of a football coach.

"He's a tireless worker for us," Bumiller said. "He'll do whatever we ask him to do. We changed his position and he's really busted his butt to work and improve at it. He's made leaps and bounds. We're really happy where he is but we know there's still a little more to get from him so we're going to continue to challenge him every day."

The next challenge for Simmons may be to find another famous fan. Though he's working harder on his game, he's keeping his head on a swivel for another possible power tweet.

"That was a good first one," Simmons said grinning. "It's pretty special to have a really good kicker, the top one in the NFL."

Mason and Simmons are next on the field at St. Xavier against the 2021 Division I state semifinalists next Wednesday, April 13.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mason lacrosse player has big fan in Bengals kicker Evan McPherson