Cover Story: Fueled By Family

by Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

The following feature story can be found in the Oct. 6 Mississippi State Football Game Program, which can be purchased for $5 in and around Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday.

It is hard to imagine something bigger than Mississippi State junior defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and senior defensive end Montez Sweat, but to the duo, family is a driving force.

Simmons, a 6-foot-4, 300-pounder, was raised by his mother, is playing for his son, and is reminded about his reason for football and school by the tattoo on his right arm that simply says, "Feed The Family."

Sweat carries around 245 pounds on his 6-foot-6 frame and is fueled by an emotional attachment to his grandparents, who raised him, and the journey that places him at his third school since heading to college in 2014.

The game of football is something both started playing at a young age, with Simmons picking up the sport because of his size as a five-year-old and Sweat playing "park ball" with his brother at an early age.

"Football is my passion," Simmons said. "I love this game. I play with a lot of passion. It's something that I want to do with my life. I believe that if you're going to do something, you might as well do it with passion."

"I have been playing football since I was a little," Sweat said. "I started playing park ball with my brother [as a kid]. I played basketball and football [in high school], but I just felt like football could take me further."

Like they do on their way to the quarterback, the gregarious 300-pounder and the unassuming edge rusher took different paths to arrive at Mississippi State — Simmons straight up the middle, while Sweat took a more looping path.

A three-star prep tight end, Sweat initially had an offer to play at State coming out of Stone Mountain, Georgia, but chose another MSU – Michigan State University – before transferring to Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College and ultimately ending up in Starkville.

"Michigan State was far away from home, but I wasn't [homesick]," said Sweat. "I just didn't feel like it was the best place for me. I just needed to get back to being myself, so I went to [junior college] and I fell in love with Mississippi."

Simmons grew up in Macon, Mississippi, just a 30-minute drive to the Starkville campus, and was the No. 1-rated player in the state of Mississippi as a senior in high school. He chose the Bulldogs on National Signing Day in 2016 and made an immediate impact thanks to the driving force that is his mother.

"That's one thing that motivates me, my family," Simmons said. "My mom was a single mother, so, every time I step on the field it is for her."

Each is rated in among the top draft prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft, but when asked to describe the other, football isn't the first thing that comes to mind, which speaks volumes about the person behind the facemask.

"[Montez] is a great guy to be around," Simmons said. "He is really funny. On the field, he's so smooth. He reads keys well and we really play off of one another. If he gets double-teamed, I am ready to make a play, the same way if they [double-team] me."

"[Jeffery] loves to play around," said Sweat with a laugh. "He's a little bit harder on the outside than he is on the inside. I swear he might be the only 300-pounder with six-pack [abs]. I love playing with him and we have grown close off the field, too."

The preseason All-America tandem won't pretend that they are the only ones that make an impact on the defensive line, talking about the defensive line, or "D-Block," as a band of brothers.

"As a group, we hold each other accountable," Simmons said. "We tell each other to go to class and push everyone to do the little things. We take pride in setting a higher standard for the defensive line. We want to be special."

That special quality comes from the relationship that is built in the trenches.

"Our defensive line is special because we all have the same goal," Sweat said. "It's not just Jeffery and I, all of us want to do well because the guy next to you goes just as hard as you do."

Simmons and Sweat may take up many of the headlines regarding the stout Bulldog defense and they may get the air time on television, but in the meeting room and on the field they are focused on supporting their "brothers" and helping their football family any way possible.

Off the field, both have their eyes on what is most important — the family members at home.

"Thinking ahead about my life…when I leave Mississippi State I want to have a degree," said Simmons, a human sciences and development major. "I'm just working towards my degree, in case football doesn't work out. I want to teach, coach or mentor when football is over."

"My grandparents are very important to me," said Sweat, a communication major. "Words cannot even describe what they have done for me or how important they are to me. They are my rock. What I am doing [at Mississippi State] is all for them."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jeffery Simmons

Montez Sweat

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