On the 148th episode of Listen In With KNN on Fox Sports 1340AM, host Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed linebacker and co-captain of the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) Hamilton Tiger-Cats Simoni Lawrence to the show.
Speaking of his journey, he was born and raised outside of West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Upper Darby High School. Then, Lawrence took his football talents to the University of Minnesota where he played two seasons with the Golden Gophers.
After his college career ended, he wasn’t selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. After a short stint with the St. Louis Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings on their practice squads, Hamilton went to the CFL. He became a two-time All-Star as the co-captain of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“You try to be an example of what you want the standard to be. I would always say things like, ‘I’m not gonna miss a practice this year.’ I would go three whole seasons without missing practices and preach what you want in a team. If I want toughness, we work on that common goal together,” Hamilton said. “Being a co-captain is just being able to work with everybody together and being on the same page.”
Additionally, he was coming off the best season of his 10 year career when he led the league in tackles but the CFL cancelled it’s 2020 season due to COVID-19.
“It hit me hard just because I was like, ‘they’re really not going to have football.’ Then you start thinking about people who are actually dying and losing their lives. You step out of that superhero phase because sometimes when you’re playing sports, you think you’re untouchable at times,” he said. “A part of me when everything happened, I wanted to go to the NFL. But you make commitments and promises and I try to hold on to them and hope it pays off in the end. It was one of those things where it was a shock-educational value.”
For Hamilton, football is the ultimate team game and the goal is to win a championship. In order for that to happen, everybody on the Tiger-Cats has to be on the same page.
“If your brother feels a certain way about something and they’re like, ‘we need to send a message (on the National Anthem).’ If you can’t come together with them on that, then you don’t have a team. Teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers did an amazing job making their statement together. That’s what football is all about and unity and standing up for your brother and having your brother’s back.”
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