It's not that Jeffery Simmons was surprised by the wave of emotion. How could he be, given the whirlwind last week had become -- a personal earthquake trembling inside a professional tornado? That's how a midweek, midseason blockbuster trade can feel to one of the NFL's premier defenders.
Still, by the time Monday night arrived, with Simmons on the Chicago Bears' sideline in Seattle, preparing for his first primetime game in nearly three years, a moment of reflection came crashing through.
For a minute and 55 seconds, and with 66-year-old Anthrax lead singer Joey Belladonna performing the national anthem at Lumen Field, Simmons allowed his mind to wander, tracing a journey and a surprise twist he was still trying to process.
"Honestly, man," he said, "there was just a lot to think about."
Four days earlier, Simmons had woken up as the star defensive tackle for the 1-6 Tennessee Titans, immersed in his Week 8 preparation for an AFC game in Cincinnati. Now suddenly, thanks to an aggressive Bears trade that seemed to instantly reshape NFC playoff dynamics, he was contemplating his football future and, most importantly, embracing his present opportunity in the Pacific Northwest with an ascending Chicago team.
Admittedly, Simmons said, finding closure to his exit from Tennessee, where he started his NFL career in 2019, was difficult. Plus, he emphasized, the initial confusion of being traded triggered a "Why me?" reflex.
But there, in real time Monday, with pyrotechnics lighting the sky above the stadium light towers and military helicopters buzzing past, Simmons felt grief becoming gratitude.
"I felt the goodness of God," Simmons told The Athletic. "That's the best way I can explain it. I just felt this appreciation for the position I've been put in."
He looked around and let it all soak in.
Goodness, look at this super-charged environment. A spotlight game. On the "Monday Night Football" stage. Against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks. With a new team that was quickly winning him over with its hunger and purpose.
"As professional athletes, we can sometimes question things," Simmons said. "You can ask yourself, 'Why did I have to get traded? Why me? Why right now?' But it has been easy for me to see the position God has put me in.
"I'm big on my faith and the concept of 'ask for more.' I think this is my 'more' that I've been praying for. I have found my way to a better situation. And the emotions of that hit me the other night. I'm just grateful to be here now on a big stage with a great team."
Truth be told, Simmons had been itching to be with a contender again. The Bears, meanwhile, have been searching long and hard to find a high-level defensive disruptor. Their sudden union has created a surge of energy that could make the Bears more dangerous than they've been at any point in the past 20 seasons.
That's what Monday night seemed to confirm as Simmons followed his national anthem contemplation by putting his fingerprints all over an attention-grabbing 34-17 Bears win. Fifty-five snaps, a team-best six tackles, two of those for loss, plus a quarterback hit and a pass deflection.
"His impact," coach Ben Johnson said, "was profound."
Bears defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett was in his office a week ago Thursday morning, deep in his studies of the Seahawks offense, when he heard the knuckles rapping at his door. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen had come by with news that the Simmons trade was in motion.
"And I said, 'But is it done?'" Garrett recalled.
Forgive the disbelief. That too-good-to-be-true skepticism was certainly natural but quickly replaced by a building-wide celebration at Halas Hall.
Allen, intense and grounded by nature, wore a huge grin as he brought Garrett that scoop, exhibiting the same excitement he showed a day later when he held his weekly news conference and proclaimed that Simmons' arrival gave him the glee of a kid on Christmas morning.
For Allen, this is Season 25 as an NFL coach. He has spent time around All-Pro difference-makers such as Darren Sharper, Demario Davis and Von Miller. Still, this has felt like a new kind of toy. "I don't know that I've ever had anybody who's been what I would consider this dominant," he said last week. "I don't know that I've had anybody this disruptive."
And yet, before the Bears could turn Simmons loose for the first time, the coaches had to get him acclimated, providing a surface-level understanding of their defense and his responsibilities within it. That's where Garrett came into play, starting with an orientation session that pushed deep into Simmons' first night in Lake Forest, Ill.
The defensive line coach and his new All-Pro student broke the ice talking briefly about their respective college playing days -- Garrett on the defensive line at Ole Miss and Simmons years later as an All-SEC force at rival Mississippi State. From there, the two quickly got down to business. As Garrett explained, Simmons' football intelligence was surpassed only by his eagerness to learn more.
"Man, he's passionate about the game. He wants to do things the right way."
An invigorating cram session picked up steam with Simmons invested in all he was being taught and armed with as many questions as he needed to get comfortable.
Said Garrett: "You could just tell, man, (he was like) 'I want to make sure I'm not going to cost the team. I want to do everything asked. I want to be aligned correctly. I don't want any mental errors.'"
By the time Monday night rolled around, the Bears were as eager as Simmons for this next chapter to begin with no revisions needed in the defensive game plan.
"I really don't feel like we were handcuffed very much in terms of what we could do and what we could call," Allen said. "This guy is the consummate professional. I mean, he was on his stuff. Knew exactly what to do."
Perhaps fittingly, Simmons' first sack as a Bear -- and his fifth this season -- came quickly in the first quarter and required minimal schematic genius. Instead, it was the perfect snapshot of how elite defensive talent can wreck a drive, a showcase of one of the NFL's most disruptive players recognizing his one-on-one matchup and going to work.
From snap to sack: 2.6 seconds. And it was difficult to determine which was more impressive: the sudden move Simmons used to shoot past Seahawks guard Grey Zabel through the "A" gap or the violent manner with which he flung quarterback Sam Darnold, with one arm, for a 6-yard loss.
With modesty, Simmons sat at his locker stall Wednesday night and described that sequence.
"It's a move I feel like I've done perfected," he said. "I felt an overset from the guard and just beat him inside. The quarterback was right there. So go make a play. We can overcomplicate the game of football. For me? I've got a one-on-one block? Make them pay."
As for that comic book-like slam of Darnold?
"I've got some heavy hands," he added with a shrug.
Indeed, across an eight-season, 111-game vault of Simmons video, such jaw-dropping moments have been the norm, a showcase of power, explosion, effort and determination. Last week, the Bears launched one of their own Simmons highlight montages on social media. And, whoa, brother, was that an experience.
Check out his safety from last season on Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, a ferocious tackle 3 yards deep in the end zone with Simmons practically beating Hunt to the mesh point.
Or this insta-sack of Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, with the impact coming a tenth of a second after the snap as Stroud began the second step of his under-center dropback.
Or what about this forced fumble on Colts running back Jonathan Taylor from last month, with Simmons plucking the football away as if it were a grape off a stem?
"I don't have words for some of the stuff he does," said Bears defensive tackle James Lynch, also a Simmons teammate for two seasons in Tennessee. "This is the NFL, man. These are grown men he's throwing around like they're nothing. You're not supposed to be able to do that."
The Bears are confident such jaw-dropping feats will continue, but with Simmons wearing a new jersey -- with those bright orange sleeves beneath it.
During Simmons' first practice as a Bear last Friday, Garrett couldn't help but marvel at how energized and engaged he was. With new teammates whose names he was still learning, Simmons spent part of one individual pass-rush drill offering trade secrets. Hand placement tips. Suggested moves to try. Positive reinforcement on things he loved seeing.
"Another coach on the field," Garrett said. "The leadership is infectious."
As excited as Garrett was to feel Simmons' immediate presence, he was more impressed with how it resonated with teammates.
"That's respect," he said. "Guys have respect for his play, but also for the person. I think if your play is good and you're not a good person, sometimes other players don't hear you. But when you have that combination of both, there's like a big respect factor there."
Lynch wasn't surprised. When he arrived in Nashville in 2024, it took little time to feel Simmons' alpha tendencies plus the passion he plays with -- and helps bring out from others.
"He's just a natural leader in everything he does," Lynch said. "It took me less than a week to understand the respect everyone has for his game and how he attacks his craft."
On Monday night, Lynch got a kick out of Simmons introducing his new team -- with a "Monday Night Football" audience watching -- to this juice-filled existence.
"The way he plays the game is intoxicating," Lynch said. "Honestly. There's a physicality to everything he does, for one. But it's his approach that elevates everything. He just got here. But he has already assumed a role of showing us what needs to be done and how to get it done. You watch that in person, and as a defense, you're instantly pulled into following that lead."
Added Allen: "His football character bleeds off the tape. It bled off the tape in Tennessee. It bled off the tape the other night in Seattle. He plays the game tough, he plays the game violent, he plays the game hard. Why does he raise the level of other guys around him? Because when your best players work the way he works, practice the way he practices, prepare the way he prepares and then play the game the way that he plays it, you don't have a choice but to raise your level."
That's the culture-fueling stuff Bears general manager Ryan Poles was attracted to almost as much as Simmons' combination of power, athleticism and instincts. Late last week, Poles described Simmons' dedication to upholding the highest of standards.
"When you don't live that," Poles said, "he's a guy who makes it a little bit uncomfortable for you, too. Which is important."
Was it any wonder, then, that before, during and after his first Bears practice, Simmons vocalized his expectation to teammates of how they should elevate their play with him on board?
"I told Grady (Jarrett), 'If I'm getting in the double (team), I expect you to go win,'" Simmons said. "Same thing I told (Montez Sweat). Like if the tackles hang on me and you can't get off the ball and get a free sack, there's something wrong."
Garrett loved how direct that was.
"I mean, it's black and white, you know?" he said.
Poles has been searching, for years really, for a difference-making defensive tackle who can consistently dent the pocket. Simmons, meanwhile, has shown a proclivity for absolutely totaling pockets and, in turn, creating significant anxiety for opposing quarterbacks.
That was obvious Monday night with Darnold, on multiple occasions, appearing nervy and making errant throws as a result.
With a smile, Simmons acknowledged he felt those nerves from the Seahawks quarterback.
"That's any quarterback," he said. "When you're at his feet, when you're in his face, they'll get uncomfortable. No matter who it is."
By night's end, Darnold was sacked three times, had an interception and posted a 74.1 passer rating. The damage could have been worse had two Sweat sacks and a Cam Lewis interception not been nullified by Bears penalties.
The next morning, with the league buzzing about the statement the Bears had made with their runaway road victory, Simmons had four hours to pass on the team flight back to Chicago.
"I caught up on some sleep. I can tell you that much," he said. "And I had to start flipping the page to this next game."
Surely, though, there was time for added reflection, right? And Simmons had a chance to fully process the significance of Monday's victory and the trajectory of this team he just joined?
"What I experienced in Seattle is what I saw from afar," he said. "This is a team that's hungry. It's a team that knows what it has in the locker room. This is a team with a hell of a coaching staff. This group wants to win. And that showed."
It all confirmed those feelings of gratitude Simmons had before kickoff.
"Yeah, man," he said. "I'm excited to be here."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
