John Simpson (born August 19, 1997) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

Early life

Simpson grew up in the Dorchester-Waylyn neighborhood of

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is a city in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. As ...

, where he and his younger brother were raised in a single parent household by his mother, and attended

Fort Dorchester High School Fort Dorchester High School is a public high school located in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It is one of the three high schools in Dorchester School District Two. Athletics Fort Dorchester High School's mascot is the Patrio ...

. Rated a four star prospect, Simpson committed to play

at Clemson over offers from Florida, LSU, South Carolina and Alabama.

College career

Simpson played in nine games (160 total snaps) as a true freshman on Clemson's 2016 National Championship team, missing multiple weeks due to a foot injury. He appeared in 12 games as a sophomore, playing 300 total snaps of the bench as a key reserve on the Tigers' offensive line. Simpson was named the Tigers' starting left guard going into his junior season. Simpson started all 15 games for the Tigers, playing a total of 858 snaps, as the team won the

2019 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 7, 2019, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The fifth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined a ...

was named third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and to the second-team by the

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. Simpson was chosen by head coach

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

to represent Clemson at the ACC's 2019 media day. He gained national coverage by a wearing a blonde wig to imitate the team's starting quarterback,

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospect ...

, whom most members of the media had expected to be Clemson's player representative. He was named preseason first-team All-ACC and to the

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watchlist entering the season. He was also listed as the second-best offensive guard prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft by ''

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'' analyst Mel Kiper. Simpson was named a first-team midseason All-American by the Associated Press. Simpson was the only offensive guard to be named a consensus first-team All-American for the 2019 season.

Professional career

Las Vegas Raiders

Simpson was selected by the

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in the fourth round, 109th overall, of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

. Simpson made his debut on ''

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'' against the

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on September 21, 2020, entering the game at left guard in the second quarter to replace starter Richie Incognito after he suffered an injury and playing the remainder of the game. He made his first career start the following week on September 27, 2020, against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. On December 10, 2022, Simpson was waived.

Baltimore Ravens

On December 19, 2022, Simpson was signed to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 16, 2023.

New York Jets

On March 14, 2024, Simpson signed a two-year contract with the

NFL career statistics

References

External links

New York Jets bio

Clemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John 1997 births Living people People from North Charleston, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina American football offensive guards Clemson Tigers football players All-American college football players Las Vegas Raiders players Baltimore Ravens players New York Jets players