No. 2 pick: LB Brian Simmons Tarheel eager to silence critics Sunday, April 19, 1998
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Brian Simmons was supposed to be All-Universe this season at North Carolina. A simply out-of-this-world junior season made him the darling of the NFL Draftnicks.
North Carolina LB Brian Simmons at work
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |But when he was named merely first-team All-America by The Associated Press and a semifinalist for the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in the nation, word was his play had slipped.
But the Bengals ignored the whispering campaign Saturday, making Simmons the 17th pick in the NFL Draft and an odds-on favorite to start the season at inside linebacker opposite fellow rookie Takeo Spikes, taken four picks before him.
"We met at the combine and got along pretty well there," Simmons said Saturday from his parents' home in New Bern, N.C. "At least I'll have someone that I know who's a rookie going through the same thing in my same position. I think that will help us out a lot."
The Tar Heels retired his No. 41 jersey after a senior season in which he had 119 tackles, three sacks and 13 stops for losses on a star-studded defense boasting defensive end Greg Ellis, the eighth player taken Saturday, and cornerback Dre Bly, the first Tar Heel ever to be named a consensus All-America in back-to-back seasons.
In 1996, the 6-foot-3, 238-pound Simmons used his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash to run down 85 tackles, get two sacks, and make nine stops for losses. And he has an answer for his critics who claim his play suffered in 1998. "
I don't think it did," Simmons said. "People say that and that kind of bothered me this year. But you can't worry about how people perceive you. If you look at the stats, it proves me right. On my side, we had Greg Ellis and Bly. People weren't coming to our side much."
NFL insiders acknowledge Simmons at times appeared to play like he was trying not to get hurt afer deciding to return for his senior year. But Bengals linebackers coach Mark Duffner insists Simmons had a season comparable to those of the past two years. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. points to Simmons' versatility and speed on the outside mixed with solid pass-coverage skills and says Simmons is an unfair victim of greater expectations.
"This guy's already at a high level," Duffner said. "He's a three-down player who had the ability to walk out and cover a split end. And he was the (weight) lifter of the year in the program, which tells you about dedication."
Simmons experessed concern about playing inside after lining up on the outside in Chapel Hill, but Duffner said he'll be asked to line up in virtually the same place in the Bengals' four-linebacker set. The club envisions him playing opposite the tight-end side. "He'll be doing pretty much the same things he did in college," Duffner said.
Carl Torbush, North Carolina's defensive coordinator, who nicknamed Simmons "The Silent Assassin," was surprised he returned for his senior season. But Simmons comes from a modest home, where his mother is a seamstress who worked hard to get out of a garment factory and moved up to work for a boat canvas-maker and his father is a painter. Simmons also has Brianna, a girl who turns two in June.
"I figured that I have been struggling for 22 years already, so one more year isn't going to hurt me," he said last season.
by Associated Press
Bengals draft
Bengals draft for speed
Brown says no Moss
Picks will have to win jobs
Some impact, some insurance
1. Takeo Spikes,
LB, Auburn
1a. Brian Simmons,
LB, N.Carolina
2. Artrell Hawkins,
CB, Cincinnati
3. Steve Foley,
LB, NE Louisiana
3a. Mike Goff,
G, Iowa
4. Glen Steele,
DE, Michigan
6. Jason Tucker,
WR, TCU
7. Marcus Parker,
RB, Va. Tech
7a. Damian Vaughn,
TE, Miami U.
Sullivan
Daugherty
Five Bearcats drafted
Fabini, Ransom, Monroe taken on second day
Jackson taken by Dolphins