Re: Hill Watch...3 days!!!

North Carolina Highway 3 is a 27.8-mile-long state highway that runs from the south end at US 601 in Concord to the north end at NC 150 in Mooresville, going through Kannapolis. NC 3 was numbered after Dale Earnhardt's #3 car, in which he died at the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis.

Mooresville, North Carolina is a town/city of 50,000 in Iredell County 30 miles north of Charlotte and 10 miles east of Lake Norman. English, German, Scotch, and Irish settlers in the area in the 1700s called it Deep Well for a natural well in the area. The railroad was established in 1856, and a depot set up on the farmland of John Moore and the village was incorporated as Mooresville in 1873. Today, Mooresville, known as Race City USA, is home to many NASCAR teams and drivers and their shops, as well as racing technology suppliers. There is also the Universal Technical Institute's NASCAR Technical Institute, the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Memory Lane Museum, and the Dale Earnhardt Showroom. And, outside of racing, Mooresville is the corporate headquarters of Lowe's Corporation.

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3 - Anthony Simmons was Named All American for 3 Straight Seasons

Aug 28, 2024, 5:23 AM

Plain and simple, Clemson LB Anthony Simmons is one of the best to ever play the game. Period!

While at Clemson:

If you are unsure of the above statement, try reading the following selected excerpts from Antony Simmons’ bio on ClemsonTigers.com. I know that even though I selected excerpts from his bio, it is still long! But, these excerpts are Jaw-Dropping!!:

In 1997: Became just the second ACC player (as a member of an ACC school) to be named an AP All-American for three straight years…William Perry, also of Clemson is the only other…left Clemson after junior year with a chance to become just the second four-time AP All-American (first-second or third team) in college football history….Charlie Justice of North Carolina did it 1945-48..first-team Consensus All-American, Clemson’s first consensus All-America linebacker since Levon Kirkland in 1991…named first-team AP All-American, Clemson’s first defensive player to be a first-team AP All-American since Terry Kinard in 1982…also named first-team by American Football Coaches Association and The Sporting News…it was his second straight year as a first-team Sporting News All-American…second-team choice by Football News and College & Pro Football Weekly…just second player in Clemson history to be a three-time AP All-American, William Perry is the other…first junior to be a first-team All-American from Clemson since 1982…leading tackler in the ACC, a league that had five of the top 10 Butkus candidates…also paced the league in tackles for loss with 25…has finished second in ACC Defensive Player of the Year ballotting each of the last three years…his 25 tackles for loss set a Clemson record for a single season for a linebacker…had 486 tackles in his career, second in Clemson history and just 30 short of Bubba Brown’s career record…Brown, who played four years, had 515 between 1976-79…first-team All-ACC for each of the last three years, first Clemson player to do that since Levon Kirkland in 1989-91 and just the third Tiger in history to do it (Perry is the other)…only player in Clemson history to be first-team All-ACC as a freshman, sophomore and junior…finished with 52 tackles for loss in his three years, third in Clemson history and he trails only the Perry brothers in that area…obviously the most ever by a Clemson linebacker…Clemson’s top tackler in 10 of the 12 games this year and had nine double figure tackle games…has been Clemson’s top tackler in 28 of his 36 games as a Tiger…played all 36 games in his career, 35 as a starter
…
In 1996: Led the ACC in tackles per game in 1996, he was second in that category as a freshman (1995)….first player in Clemson history to reach 300 tackles in just 23 games. Named first team All-America by Sporting News…named second team All-America by Football News…named third team All-America by the Associated Press…selected first team All-ACC by ACSWA…one of 23 Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player Award semifinalists…Winner of 1996 Banks McFadden Award as top college football player in the state of South Carolina…one of the preseason nominees for Butkus Award for Nation’s Top Linebacker……Clemson’s top tackler with 178 in 1996, the most tackles in a season by a Tiger in Clemson history…broke the record of 175 set by Jeff Davis in 1981…Tigers top tackler in 10 of the 12 games
…
In 1995: National Freshman-of-the-Year by United Press International…second Clemson football player in history to win a national award, Terry Kinard was named National Defensive-Player-of-the-Year by CBS in 1982…first defensive player to win the UPI Freshman-of-the-Year award…first first-year freshman in ACC history to earn Associated Press All-America honors as an offensive or defensive player…chosen third-team AA inside linebacker by AP…only other first-year freshman in ACC history to earn a selection is Florida State’s Tamarick Vanover in 1992, but he was chosen as a kick returner…ACC Rookie of the Year and a first-team All- ACC selection (ACC Sportswriters and Football News), quite an accomplishment for a first- year freshman… honorable mention All- American by UPI and Football News… second in the voting for ACC Defensive Player of the Year to North Carolina All- American Marcus Jones…honored six times in 1995 year by the ACC, four times as the ACC Rookie of the Week and twice as the Defensive Lineman of the Week…his 150 tackles rank seventh best in Clemson history for a single season and by far a Clemson freshman record

https://clemsontigers.com/career-bio-for-anthony-simmons/

Again: These are just selected excerpts!

Just in case it was TLDR:
- One fantastic accolade after another!!!

Here is a much briefer (but still not brief) synopsis of Simmons’ career at Clemson. This ClemsonTigers.com article discussed his decision to enter the NFL draft:

“Simmons was ranked among the best players in the nation, earning All-America honors from Associated Press in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Had he returned for his senior year he could have become just the second four-time Associated Press All-American in college football history (North Carolina’s Charley Justice from 1945-48). A 230-pounder with lighting quick speed and instincts, he was a certain first-round NFL draft selection.”

“Looking back, I made a good decision,” said Simmons, who is entering his fourth year with the Seattle Seahawks. “It was a tough decision. I had great years at Clemson, but I felt I was ready for the next level.”

https://clemsontigers.com/anthony-simmons/

Goodness:
- “Had he returned for his senior year he could have become just the second four-time Associated Press All-American in college football history”

Is there any doubt he would have earned that 4th All-American honor?

After Clemson:

According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Simmons registered the following NFL statistics:

Anthony Simmons (1998-2004: Seahawks)
- 591 Tackles (457 Solo, 134 Assisted)
- 9 Interceptions Returned for 131 Yards
- 2 Interceptions Returned for Touchdowns
- 1 Fumble Recovery Returned for 4 Yards

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SimmAn20.htm

Thanks to Scott Rhymer and the Tiger Tailgate Show for another great Dark Territory Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslmkiN6kAg

Anthony Simmons was inducted into the Clemson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.

My question is:
When will Anthony Simmons be considered for the College Football Hall of Fame?
- He certainly would get my vote!

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Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

Hill Watch...3 days!!!