By Stampeders.com staff

Jasper Simmons was prepared for the possibility that his football career was over.

After playing a handful of games for the Toronto Argonauts during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Simmons was released by the Boatmen just eight days shy of his 23rd birthday.

With no immediate offers from another team, Simmons got a “real world” job.

“I knew there was a chance that I was done with football,” said the Pensacola, Fla., native and a brand new member of the Calgary Stampeders. “I had been out of the game for about 15 months but then Ottawa had an open tryout camp and I thought I’d give it one more shot.”

Things worked out pretty well for both Simmons and the RedBlacks. He earned a spot as a starting linebacker in the Nation’s Capital and wound up leading the team in tackles with 80.

The RedBlacks had some struggles on offence during their inaugural season but their defence earned solid reviews and Simmons picked up Ottawa’s nominations for two major league awards — Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

Many players would be satisfied with that kind of performance but Simmons, who was acquired by Calgary from the RedBlacks along with receiver Dan Buckner in exchange for Maurice Price, thinks he can do even better.

“When I went back and looked at the film,” he said, “I realized there were some things I could still improve on. That’s my focus for next year.”

What’s particularly remarkable about Simmons’ impressive play in 2014 is that he was playing a new position.

“I’ve been a safety my entire life,” he explained. “But even as a safety, I tended to play close to the box and be very physical, so it wasn’t that different from being a linebacker. That’s the way I like to play.”

Buckner, the other half of the package coming west from Ottawa, saw limited action in his first CFL season — he dressed for just two games and didn’t record any stats — but Simmons saw lots of him in practice and was impressed.

“He’s a big powerful receiver,” said Simmons. “He’s tall and he can get up there to go get the ball. He may not look that fast but he’s a big strider and he covers a lot of ground.”