A Bit About John Simon

[Jake]

This is from an e-mail I had with Jeff from our Tennessee Titans F2FA Afilliate gotitans.com:

Much of this you may already know from his bio but he was a walk-on in 2002. It was obvious he had great hands and was best when in the open field. Though originally a RB, he was moved out to WR his senior season. The Titans thought they had discovered a speedy third-down RB to compliment Eddie. He did his best work as the PR/KR during the 2002 preseason and ran back a punt for a TD against Green Bay in that game. He also busted a couple of long gains off of short passes when he got his reps.

Once the regular season began, he became the Titans return guy. He never really busted anything the entire season and actually had very average numbers. I believe he had a fumble early in the season on a PR which resulted in Derrick Mason retaking that duty. He remained the KR the entire season.

He did catch a TD in one of the season's early game. He also made some key first downs catching the ball on swing routes. The biggest play for Simon in the 2002 regular season was the home game against the Colts. We were tied with them at the time in the division and Coach Fisher used him as a wideout. The Colts matched up with a safety and Simon
blew by him for a long TD reception. But once that mismatch was exposed, teams would put a corner on him anytime it was used afterwards and he was pretty much shut down.

Simon had another fumble during the AFC Championship game during a KO return which was a killer as it was near the end of the first half and it gave the Raiders a quick score.

He never did much as a RB even in preseason. He just didn't appear to have the running instincts which ended up being the reason he was cut. His value to the Titans was on
special teams and once the team found a WR who could do as well (if not better) than Simon, he had to be evaluated for his RB skills which didn't develop between his rookie
and second season. He was one-dimensional.

When Dwone Hicks was brought to camp this year, most felt one would be cut. I think Simon's lack of running ability was the reason he was let go. No one questions his hands
and speed once in the open field. He has great talent if Spurrier and find a way to utilize it. And if he develops a run game, he could be a great third-down back.

Off the field, Simon was a popular guy. He is extremely nice and was always grateful for the opportunity to play in the NFL. He was a guy many of us pulled for and hope he does
well for the Redskins.

[BossHog]

Glad to see you taking advantage of the alliance Jake.... that's exactly what it's there for.