Marcello Muhammad Simmons (born August 8, 1971) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and the former special teams coordinator for the BC Lions. He played for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

before playing for seven seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Toronto Argonauts,

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, and BC Lions. He is a three-time

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

champion having won twice as a player in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and once as a coach in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the SMU Mustangs.

College career

Simmons played

with the SMU Mustangs from 1989 to 1993. Simmons earned SMU's Most Improved Athlete award in 1992. Simmons later graduated from SMU with a B.A. in Advertising.

Professional career

During the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot Ma ...

, Simmons was selected in the fourth round, 90th overall, by the

. Simmons dressed in all 16 regular season games for the Bengals during the 1993 NFL season, but only started for two games, both against the Houston Oilers, of the season. The following season, Simmons made no game appearances for the Bengals. In January 1995, Simmons signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was a pre-season cut by the team on August 15. After being cut by the Jaguars, Simmons signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. In September 1995, midway into the

1995 CFL season The 1995 CFL season was the 38th season of the Canadian Football League, and the 42nd in modern-day Canadian football. CFL news in 1995 Expansion, relocation, folding and realignment Two more United States-based teams were admitted, the Birming ...

Simmons spent his first two weeks on the practice roster but started the last 5 games of the season. In 1996, with Simmons as a starting defensive player with the Argos, the team would go on to win its first of two consecutive

championships. In 1999, just days before the start of training camp, Simmons was traded to the Edmonton Eskimos and would remain there for the rest of the season. In 2000, he signed with the BC Lions but was traded back to the Toronto Argonauts midway into the season. Simmons would eventually end his football career with the Argonauts, spending 6 of his 7 CFL seasons with them.

Coaching career

In 2003, Simmons was named the

special teams coach In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the Toronto Argonauts. The team would go on to win a

Grey Cup championship The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

the following year. Simmons remained as the team's special teams coach until the end of the 2008 season. On June 4, 2010, Simmons was announced as a new member of the coaching staff for the Acadia Axemen's football team. He served as the defensive backs coach for the University of Guelph

Gryphons The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

football team for the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. On January 20, 2012, it was announced that Simmons had returned to coaching professional football by being named the defensive backs coach for the

. In 2013, he emerged as defensive coordinator of the

Saint Mary's Huskies The Saint Mary's Huskies are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Their primary home turf is Huskies Stadium located in the centre of the University's campus. In September 2 ...

of AUS. In 2014, he was named defensive and special teams assistant with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. In 2016, he became the BC Lions special teams coordinator.

References

External links

Pro-Football-Reference statsNFL.com statsEdmonton Eskimos profile page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Marcello 1971 births Living people BC Lions players Canadian football defensive backs Edmonton Elks coaches Players of American football from Harris County, Texas Players of Canadian football from Texas SMU Mustangs football players Toronto Argonauts players BC Lions coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Saint Mary's Huskies football coaches Guelph Gryphons football coaches Acadia Axemen football coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Toronto Argonauts coaches 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople