In addition to a torn ACL, Mississipi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons gave many teams pause in the 2019 NFL Draft due to an assault of a woman while he was in high school. The Titans eventually made him the No. 19 pick in the draft, a selection that was cleared by team owner Amy Adams Strunk, Pro Football Talk’s Darin Gantt writes. 
“Jon [Robinson] and Mike [Vrabel] came to me months ago, and we discussed since then,” Strunk said, via Erik Bacharach, of the Nashville Tennessean. “We watched the video together, and it begins with trust from Mike and Jon that I was able to get comfortable. They were both very respectful that I needed to be comfortable, because at the end of the day, I have the final decision.
“We all can look back on our lives in high school and wish we’d done things differently. You can talk, ‘I’m sorry,’ but the best thing is, is that he’s lived the life of, ‘I’m truly sorry and I’m going to be a good man.’ And so that made it really easy for me to become comfortable with Jeffery. And we’re getting a great football player, that goes without saying, but we’re getting a great man. Our locker room is so important, and we only have good men in there. And this young man is a good man.”
The incident, which happened in 2016 and involved Simmons striking a woman multiple times on the ground, happened while the defensive tackle was in high school, before he enrolled at Mississippi State. Due to the incident, many teams reportedly took the talented tackle completely off their draft boards. Simmons was touched by the remarks of his new team’s owner.
“I mean, coming from a woman, . . . like I said, I made that mistake,” Simmons said. “I regret it. Just to hear her say all that, I’m grateful. Key word she said was trust. [I’ll] tell her in front of you guys that she can trust me. I won’t let her down. I won’t let either one of you guys [Robinson and Vrabel] down. I’m grateful.”
Though one of the most talented defenders in the draft, Simmons could miss his entire rookie season with that torn ACL.
He hit a woman . Still a piece of garbage in my book
Yeah 4 years ago when he was in high school.
Wrong to hit a woman but high school and 4 years ago. HS kids aren’t exactly known for their decision making abilities
Neither are 22 year olds with millions of dollars and lots of time on their hands.
Well the brain doesnt stop developing till around age 25. So who knows what those hits really do to the brain when its still developing from 22 23 and 24.
I’m sure CTE isnt the only brain issue players face. Probably many injuries to the brain caused by football that havent been discovered like stunted growth to certain area.
I guess you were absolutely perfect as a High School student! I don’t condone ever hitting another person, much less a female but everyone makes mistakes. He is living with this one and trying to do right.
I like Amy Adams but I imagine she has just lost some respect from the other female owners in the NFL.
An emotional kid defending his sister getting her ass kicked. Yes he took it way too far but people have forgiven people for doing much worse things with much less reason..
Get over your perfect selves! The guy said he made a mistake and thoroughly regrets. He was a perfect student at MS State and Mullin said his character is great! He was in high school protecting his family. I guarantee most you don’t want to be judged over something you did as a teenager!
I don’t want to be judged for being too old to remember what it was like to be a teenager.
Right. “Protecting his family” by striking a woman multiple times on the ground. Uh huh. How many of us did something like that when we were teenagers? Dumb.
But, isn’t everyone entitled to ONE do over? Nobody is perfect. That being said, what he did was very wrong and he seems to have learned from it.
Your wrong Bostonbob. All the commenters here are perfect but if you come daily the same people post different stuff. One day a guy will say this player is a POS and then when that player signs with there team its all forgotten.