July 12, 2009

Derek Redd, Osceola

Young boys and girls buzzed around Springsax Park in Tallahassee on Friday, flitting from super-sized young man to super-sized young man, hoping to get an autograph on their T-shirts.

For some, this might be bedlam. For former Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims, this was home.

Sims was back in his hometown this past weekend, back in the town where he became the most sought-after high school recruit in the nation, back where his exploits as a Seminole made him a first-round NFL draft pick. On Friday, Sims and some of his NFL friends put on a football and cheerleading camp for local kids. And as those kids asked for autographs, he talked about how good it felt to feel the support of the folks in his old stamping grounds.

"It feels good coming back to the same city I grew up in, to the same neighborhood I grew up in," Sims said. "It means a lot."

The camps were just one part of the Ernie Sims Celebrity Weekend held this weekend in Tallahassee. Friday also brought a celebrity football came, and on Saturday, Sims held a youth track meet and a party. He held a car show on Sunday, with a golf benefit on Monday.

The Detroit Lions linebacker didn't just want to teach kids about the game. He wanted to help them get ready for their futures. Before the football and cheerleading camps, the kids watched a program called "Beyond the Athlete," something to get kids' minds focused on adulthood.

"I just think that there's more than football to life," Sims said. "You have to know what it takes to be successful on and off the football field. That's one thing that kids have to realize ? that it'snot just what's on the field. It has to be about what's off the field, also."

Sims wasn't the only former Seminole at Springsax that day. He brought a couple of former FSU players who are now Lions as well ? defensive lineman Andre Fluellen and running back Antone Smith, who signed with the Lions as a rookie free agent. New York Jets running back and former FSU standout Leon Washington was there as well. Sims also brought along Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson, running back Aveion Cason, safety Louis Delmas and others.

Smith, who left FSU in 2008 as the team's No. 8 all-time leading rusher, said it felt good to have Sims ask him to join in such an important project.

"It was just like coming back home and being around the Seminole Nation again," Smith said. "This is a big deal for Ernie and a big deal for the kids. It's a nice chance to come back and help them out."

Smith and Fluellen will try to help Sims with another important project ? bringing the Lions back to respectability. Detroit is coming off a 0-16 season, one that spurred the team to replace its general manager and coaching staff. Now former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is the Lions' new head coach, and Sims said he has a good feeling about 2009.

"I really feel excited about the season," he said. "The coaches know what it takes to win ballgames. Our whole team is almost completely different. It feels good to see we're making good strides.

"We need to prove the whole world wrong, that's how I see it," he added. "Everybody's doubting us. This is where we all come in and prove people wrong."