Dallas Cowboys cornerback David Simmons found his military father extremely demanding. "Most boys got butterflies in the stomach before the game; I got them afterwards," he once recalled. "Facing my father was more stressful than facing any opposing team."
By the time he entered college, Dave had grown to despise the man. He declined several scholarships, choosing to play at the University of Georgia because its campus was further from home. After college, he was chosen as the St. Louis Cardinals' second round draft pick, after Joe Namath.
"I telephoned my father to tell him the good news," Simmons recalled. "He said, 'How does it feel to be second?'"
Sources
Charles Sell, Unfinished Business, pp. 171ff
