I realize that's a grim way to start a write-up, but it's true. Simmons, a starter on the Packers 1996 Super Bowl team, was a serviceable NFL player, and was probably more notable to me as a fan in death than as a player.
The circumstances were nothing unusual or scandalous. He was speeding, rolled his car, and died. This was in 2002, when I would have been just heading into eighth grade. For some reason, it had never occurred to me before that football players, though superstars on the field, were human off of it. They could make mistakes. They could speed. And yes, they could even die in crashes.
On the field, I remember Simmons primarily for his enormous neck roll, the thing some players would wear on the backs of their should er pads in hopes of preventing their heads from being pushed back too far. I don't know if it actually helped, but it sure made Simmons look big and imposing as he slammed opposing running backs into the ground.
Simmons, though, is far from the only Packers linebacker to wear number 59. The player who wore it the longest while I've really been a Packers fan is Na'il Diggs, who sported it from 2000 through 2005. Diggs (whose first name is pronounced "Nile") was a pretty good linebacker, although nothing terribly special. He was more notable for his unusual name than anything on the field.
That's not the case for John Anderson, however. He was an outside linebacker for more than a decade, and was named a second-team All-Decade player for the 1980s by the NFL. Anderson was originally from Wisconsin (growing up in Waukesha), and he played for Bo Schembechler at Michigna.
Finally, there's the "legendary" Tracy White. The undersized White was only ever a special teams contributor, but he excelled in that role. He was so exceptional as a special teamer that he inspired outpourings of emotion among certain corners of the Packers blogosphere when he was finally released.
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