John Simon (born October 14, 1990) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and was drafted by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

in the fourth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

. He has also played for the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots,

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early years

Simon was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...

. He played high school football for the Mooney Cardinals of Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio. Ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 36 defensive tackle in the class of 2009, Simon chose Ohio State over offers from

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, Notre Dame and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. He played in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Simon attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, and played for the

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium i ...

team from 2009 to 2012. As a senior in 2012, he was named the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Defensive Player of the Year, and received first-team All-Big Ten honors. He was also named a third-team All-American selection by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He finished his career with 154 tackles and 20.5 quarterback sacks.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Simon was drafted by the

in the fourth round, with the 129th overall pick, of the

. He signed a four-year, $2.545 million contract on May 21, 2013. On August 30, 2014, Simon was waived by the Ravens and was signed to the practice squad the next day.

Houston Texans

On October 7, 2014, Simon was signed by the Houston Texans off the Ravens' practice squad. On October 9, 2014, Simon recorded his first NFL sack against the Indianapolis Colts. On March 16, 2016, Simon signed a restricted free agent tender with the Texans. In Simon's third season, he recorded 53 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 5 sacks.

Indianapolis Colts

On March 10, 2017, the Indianapolis Colts signed Simon to a three-year, $13.5 million contract. He started nine games for the Colts in 2017 before being placed on injured reserve on December 5, 2017 with a shoulder injury. On September 1, 2018, Simon was released by the Colts.

New England Patriots

On September 26, 2018, Simon was signed by the New England Patriots. Simon finished the 2018 season with 17 tackles (8 solo) and 2 sacks. Simon helped the Patriots win Super Bowl LIII where they beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3. On March 13, 2019, Simon signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots. In week 2 against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, Simon recorded his first sack of the season in the 43-0 win. In week 6 against the New York Giants, Simon recorded an interception off a pass from Daniel Jones that was tipped by teammate Stephon Gilmore in the 35-14 win. In week 7 against the New York Jets, Simon recorded a strip sack on Sam Darnold which was recovered by teammate

Kyle Van Noy Kyle Van Noy (born March 26, 1991) is an American football linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). Van Noy played college football at BYU was selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Detro ...

in the 33-0 win.

Tennessee Titans

On July 25, 2021, Simon signed with the

. He was released on August 29, 2021. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 5. He was promoted to the active roster on October 9. He was released on November 6. He re-signed with the Titans on November 23. He was waived on December 6.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 13, 2021, Simon signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Steelers on January 27, 2022. He was released on May 16, 2022.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bioBaltimore Ravens bioHouston Texans bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, John 1990 births Living people Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players Baltimore Ravens players Houston Texans players Indianapolis Colts players New England Patriots players Tennessee Titans players Pittsburgh Steelers players