Simeon Rice
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 24, 1974 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 268 lb (122 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Chicago (IL) Mount Carmel | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Illinois | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Tackles: | 475 |
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| Sacks: | 122.0 |
| Forced fumbles: | 25 |
| Interceptions: | 5 |
| Pass deflections: | 35 |
| Safety: | 1 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Simeon James Rice (/ˈsɪmiən/; born February 24, 1974) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals third overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Illinois.
In his 12-year NFL career, Rice recorded 122 sacks, forced 25 fumbles, recovered 8, and intercepted 5 passes. He earned three Pro Bowl selections and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. He has also played for the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and New York Sentinels.
He attended Mount Carmel High School on Chicago's south side, the same school as former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and former NBA star Antoine Walker. Simeon Rice was born February 24, 1974, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the second born of five children. His family lived in a 5 bedroom house on Chicago’s south side. His father worked on the assembly line at Ford and his mother was a school teacher who worked with troubled children. Simeon was less than well behaved as a youth. His neighborhood became populated by gang members. His parents sent him to George Washington Elementary School which was across town, but he rebelled. He mouthed off and took swings at his teachers and was frequently sent home from school. His father would not stand for his misbehavior and reached the point of threatening to hold young Simeon’s head under water. Only then did he begin to straighten up, but he still found trouble. He and a friend once broke into a house, which they thought was abandoned, but the owner met them with a gun. Simeon first became interested in football while playing pickup games with his brother in their neighborhood. His father knew that his son had the physical gifts of speed, size and strength to be a great athlete, but he insisted that Simeon understand the importance of hard work. When the time came for Simeon to attend high school, his parents sent him to Mt. Carmel, an all-boys Catholic school about an hour from where the Rice family lived. The school had a history of winning state championships. The school was so successful that the University of Notre Dame was consistently making recruiting visits. Simeon started his career at Mt. Carmel as a running back. The roster was so deep that Coach Frank Lenti moved Simeon to tight end and defensive end before his junior season. Simeon fought the move, purposely dropping passes and missing tackles in practice. He still did not see much action in games. Before his senior season, Coach Lenti had a talk with Simeon and told him there was still time to be great at football, but he had to accept that he was better suited for defense. His senior season, he got better with every game; starting with the first game of the season against Joliet Catholic and their star running back, Mike Alstott. In the state championship game with Mt. Carmel trailing, Simeon had a sack that caused a turnover which gave the team the momentum to mount a comeback victory. Throughout the season, Coach Lenti advocated for schools to recruit Simeon, but few listened. Simeon wound up at the University of Illinois for college.
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