Sankey, Simmons meet, glad to see positive outcome

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey got to meet former Mississippi State football player Jeffery Simmons in Omaha, Nebraska, recently and was glad their paths crossed.

Both were in Omaha as the Mississippi State baseball team was making its run to winning the College World Series and capturing the school’s first national championship in a team sport.

Simmons was supporting the Bulldogs as a fan and Sankey was watching as two teams within his conference were battling for the title.

Before Sankey introduced the first coach at Southeastern Conference Media Days on Monday, which happened to be former MSU head football coach Dan Mullen, had some positive things to say about Simmons.

“One of the unique things in life is the connections you make with people,” Sankey said from Hoover, Alabama. “There was a young man in Omaha I met who was there with his team. His name was Jeffery Simmons. You may recall many years ago being here, a lot of concern about Jeffery’s entry.

“Jeffery was a remarkable story, remarkable to meet that young man. I just said to Jeffery how much I respected how, once he entered with the noise, he led his life as a person, and still, is as a person, and Dan brought him in, coached him for two years, and then had to play against him a third year.”

There was some negative publicity surrounding Simmons prior to him joining the Bulldogs and many wondered if Mullen was justified in giving him a chance.

Turns out that Simmons enjoyed four very good years at MSU without drama and was drafted by the

Tennessee Titans.

For the last two years,

Simmons has returned to Starkville to host a football camp and has been a great ambassador of the Bulldogs.

“Jeffery is an extraordinary young man and one of

the reasons why you coach is to make a positive impact on people’s lives,” Mullen said. “Hopefully, I was able to make a positive impact on Jeffery Simmons’ life, and I

can guarantee you he’ll make a positive impact on a lot of people’s lives for years to come. That’s the reason we coach.”

Sankey said the Simmons

example can be one that shows why some athletes being recruited, no matter what the background, are just worth taking a chance on.

“Jeffery is one of those instances, one of those many where we do things right,” Sankey said. “(There are) some tough things, but some right things in college athletics.”