Early years

Simmons was born in New Bern, North Carolina. He attended New Bern High School, where he was a letterman in high school football, basketball, baseball, and track for the New Bern Bears.

College career

Simmons attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and played for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team from 1994 to 1997. As a senior in 1997, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American after receiving first-team honors from Football News, the Associated Press, and the Walter Camp Foundation.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

He was drafted in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Bengals, for whom he played nine seasons. Simmons missed all but one game of the 2000 season because of injury.

In 2001, the Bengals started the season 1-0. They faced the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in their second game. Right before the halftime, the Ravens were driving down field. They were on the goal line, and threw into the end zone. Brian Simmons picked off the pass, which led to Cincinnati's 21-10 win.

In 2003, the 1-4 Bengals were down 0-7 against the Ravens. With the Ravens about to score again, Simmons sacked rookie quarterback Kyle Boller, which forced a fumble, and led to Jon Kitna's 45-yard touchdown pass on third down. The Bengals won 34-26. A week later, the Bengals were 2-4 and were protecting a 27-24 lead against the Seattle Seahawks in the last six minutes. Simmons deflected a Matt Hasselbeck pass at the Cincinnati 34, then deflected another at the 24, which was intercepted by cornerback Jeff Burris to win the game.

In 2004, for the home season opener, the Bengals were down against the Miami Dolphins 0-3 at halftime. Three minutes into the second half, Simmons intercepted an A. J. Feeley pass and took it 50 yards for the Bengals' only score of the game. It allowed Carson Palmer to get rolling and drive downfield to set up Shayne Graham's game-winning field goal.

On February 28, 2007, Simmons was released from the Bengals.

New Orleans Saints

On March 6, 2007 he signed with the Saints. . On March 1, 2008 the Saints released Simmons after the acquisition of Jonathan Vilma.

Post career

On June 1, 2009, Simmons was named the Northeast regional scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

1997 College Football All-America Team consensus selections Offense QB Peyton Manning RB Ricky Williams RB Curtis Enis WR Randy Moss WR Jacquez Green TE Alonzo Mayes OL Aaron Taylor OL Alan Faneca OL Kyle Turley OL Chad Overhauser C Olin Kreutz Defense DL Grant Wistrom DL Andre Wadsworth DL Greg Ellis DL Jason Peter LB Andy Katzenmoyer LB Sam Cowart LB Anthony Simmons LB Brian Simmons DB Charles Woodson DB Dré Bly DB Fred Weary DB Brian Lee Special teams P Chad Kessler PK Martín Gramática KR Tim Dwight

1998 NFL draft first-round selections Peyton Manning Ryan Leaf Andre Wadsworth Charles Woodson Curtis Enis Grant Wistrom Kyle Turley Greg Ellis Fred Taylor Duane Starks Tra Thomas Keith Brooking Takeo Spikes Jason Peter Anthony Simmons Kevin Dyson Brian Simmons Robert Edwards Vonnie Holliday Terry Fair Randy Moss Tebucky Jones Mo Collins Shaun Williams Donovin Darius Alan Faneca Victor Riley R. W. McQuarters John Avery Marcus Nash

Cincinnati Bengals 1998 NFL draft selections Takeo Spikes Brian Simmons Artrell Hawkins Steve Foley Mike Goff Glen Steele Jason Tucker Marcus Parker Damian Vaughn

Cincinnati Bengals first-round draft picks Johnson Cook Reid Holland White Curtis Kollar Cameron Brooks Griffin Edwards Whitley Cobb Browner Bush Thompson Alexander Muñoz Verser Collins Rimington Hunley Koch Blados Brown King Kelly McGee Buck Dixon Francis A. Williams Klingler D. Williams Copeland Wilkinson Carter Anderson Wilson Spikes Simmons Ak. Smith Warrick J. Smith Jones Palmer Perry Pollack Joseph Hall Rivers An. Smith Gresham Green Kirkpatrick Zeitler Eifert Dennard Ogbuehi AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

[ Source: Wikipedia ]