How Mississippi State great and Tennessee Titans DL Jeffery Simmons gives back in Starkville
Former Mississippi State football star Jeffery Simmons signed a new contract worth $94 million this spring, and he's spent part of the ensuing summer giving back.
Simmons threw a party over the weekend for his hometown of Macon in Noxubee County, and continued with his charity work on Thursday in Starkville, where he held a shopping spree at Academy Sports + Outdoors, presenting 10 kids with $300 gift cards.
"My goal is to try to create more opportunity for our youth and give them that self-esteem," said Simmons, who runs a foundation called Give 'Em A Reason that aims to help children.
"We all, as a young kid, was told that we couldn't do something, or that you needed to do this and that," Simmons continued. "So I think my goal is to keep trying to empower all these kids."
Simmons also will host his annual youth football camp at Starkville Sportsplex, beginning Friday. The free event features instruction from Simmons as well as several other professional athletes, according to its website.
Simmons left Mississippi State for the NFL after the 2018 season, in which he earned All-American honors. Alongside Montez Sweat on the interior of the Bulldogs' defensive line, Simmons received first-team All-SEC honors from the SEC coaches and the Associated Press in 2017 and 2018.
The Titans selected him with the 19th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, and have been rewarded with a Pro Bowl defensive lineman in 2021 and 2022.
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Simmons has donated more than $50,000 to upgrade the athletic facilities at Noxubee County High School along with a $75,000 donation to the Starkville Parks and Recreation Department for a turf field at the Starkville Sportsplex. Events like Thursday's shopping spree have become commonplace on the calendar in Starkville.
"That was bringing the joy to my heart, just to know that these kids really enjoy this," Simmons said. "I think they kinda enjoy me the most. I think that's why I always come back here. That's the reason why I'm always in the community, someone to look up to right from a small town in Macon, Mississippi."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Mississippi State football great Jeffery Simmons is giving back
