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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1969-12-15)December 15, 1969 Hilton Head, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | August 23, 2002(2002-08-23) (aged 32) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Hilton Head Island (SC) | ||||||||
| College | Clemson | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1993: 1st round, 15th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Wayne General Simmons (December 15, 1969 – August 23, 2002) was an American professionalfootball player who was alinebacker in theNational Football League (NFL).
Simmons was selected by theGreen Bay Packers with the 15th pick of the first round of the1993 NFL draft.[1] Simmons played for Green Bay for four and a half years, earning aSuper Bowl ring at the end of the1996 season. Simmons was well known for shutting down opposingtight ends, but in doing this task extremely well he was not able to obtain the attention-grabbing statistics ofquarterback sacks. Simmons was traded to theKansas City Chiefs during the1997 season whenSeth Joyner returned from knee surgery. The Chiefs waived Simmons in1998 after a 30–7Monday Night loss to their arch-rivalDenver Broncos, in which Simmons and fellow linebackerDerrick Thomas were called for a total of fivepersonal fouls on the Broncos' finaltouchdown drive. TheBuffalo Bills claimed Simmons off waivers on November 19, 1998, and he played five games before being released by the team in February 1999.
In the early morning hours of August 23, 2002, Simmons was killed at the age of 32 in a single-car crash onInterstate 70 inIndependence, Missouri. Witnesses reported he was driving hisMercedes at high speed and weaving through traffic before losing control of the vehicle. The car rolled several times before landing in a ditch and catching fire.