NFL star, former Bulldog Simmons hosts shopping spree with Dick’s Sporting Goods

COLUMBUS — More than 700 children are signed up for Jeffery Simmons’ two-day football camp at the Starkville Sportsplex this weekend, but 10 of them were in for a special treat Thursday.

The Tennessee Titans’ star defensive tackle, a Noxubee County High graduate and former Mississippi State standout, randomly selected 10 campers for a shopping spree Thursday afternoon at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Columbus. Each camper had $300 to spend on any items from the store, with a total of $1,500 provided by Simmons and his Give Em A Reason foundation and $1,500 provided by Dick’s.

“I know it means a lot to them, just to see the smile on their face,” Simmons said. “If a young kid finds the right cleat that fits him, that’s what it comes down to, the joy they get out of it. But for me, that’s the reason why I do it. I enjoy doing this.”

Simmons was born in Jema, Louisiana, but moved to Macon as a young child, playing for the Macon Broncos youth program before becoming the top recruit in Mississippi while winning three state championships at Noxubee County. He was then part of the Bulldogs’ historically strong defense in 2018, a group that allowed the fewest points per game and third-fewest yards per game in all of college football.

Now five years into his NFL career, Simmons has not slowed down, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2022 and signing a four-year, $94 million contract extension with the Titans before the 2023 season.

Armed with that lucrative deal, Simmons and his foundation came up with the idea to hold a shopping spree as part of his annual camp in Starkville. His philanthropic efforts earned him Tennessee’s nomination for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which recognizes an NFL player each year for excellence on and off the field.

“It was just an idea the whole team came up with,” Simmons said. “We’ll give all the kids a great time at the camp, but when it comes down to selecting the kids, it’s random.”

Last year’s event took place at Academy Sports + Outdoors in Starkville, but this year Simmons and Give Em A Reason chose to partner with Dick’s. Simmons is hosting the camp just a week after his second annual community fun day in Macon, an event that featured food, games, live music and fireworks at Noxubee Titans Field — newly renamed for the youth football program Simmons founded earlier this year in his hometown.

The 10 lucky campers selected for the shopping spree and the opportunity to spend more time with Simmons were Aiden Strong, Amos Robinson IV, Andrew George Tehan, Ashton Burrage, Chancye Petty, MJ Neely, Quincy Anderson, Sonorah Barnes, Taj Miller and Wesley Dodd, according to a news release from Simmons’ business manager, Freddie Poindexter.

“I wish I had grown up in a community where you do football camps and you’re able to get close and interact with a professional athlete,” Simmons said. “That would excite me the most. So to be able to come back and do this, and to be able to just see smiling kids… I do this for the kids, I do this because I care, and not for the publicity.”