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 with ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is a free agent. 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 ...

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 its ...

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 in ...

. He has also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

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 h ...

, and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

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, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. 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 southwe ...

, Notre Dame and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. 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 in ...

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. newspa ...

. He finished his career with 154 tackles and 20.5

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

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

off the Ravens' practice squad. On October 9, 2014, Simon recorded his first NFL sack against the

. 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

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

. Simon finished the 2018 season with 17 tackles (8 solo) and 2 sacks. Simon helped the Patriots win

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

where they beat the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

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 pla ...

, Simon recorded his first sack of the season in the 43-0 win. In week 6 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, 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 The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, Simon recorded a strip sack on

Sam Darnold Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he became the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Awar ...

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

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