Simmer One of Three Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Winners

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press (AP), have selected three college football student-athletes as the inaugural Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Winners — Seth Simmer of Dartmouth College, Antwan Dixon of Kent State University and Antonio Wimbush of Carson-Newman University. The three players, recognized for overcoming injury, illness or other challenges, will be honored during an on-field ceremony at the 2019 Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, on New Year's Day.

Simmer and Dixon were selected in a vote of AP College Football Poll Voters, while Wimbush was chosen by a vote of the CoSIDA small-college advisory board. Additionally, six players were named honorable mention by the editors of Touchdown Illustrated, the gameday publication for college football.

Mayo Clinic, the premier sponsor, will donate $5,000 to the general scholarship funds at Kent State, Dartmouth and Carson-Newman in the name of the winners. Additionally, $2,500 will be donated to each of the six schools in the name of the players chosen honorable mention including: David Blough (Purdue University), Eric Dungey (Syracuse University), Caleb Farley (Virginia Tech), Josh Poplar (Tennessee Tech), Sam Shook (Ohio Northern University) and Austin Tillman (Washburn University).

"We commend Antwan, Seth, Antonio and all of the inspiring student-athletes we recognized this season for sharing their personal stories of overcoming adversity to help fans better appreciate the roads these young men have traveled," says Doug Vance, executive director of CoSIDA. "We hope these stories of achievement can inspire other people to meet the challenges in their own lives."

"We understand how challenging it can be for student-athletes to return from injury or illness," says Dr. Michael Stuart, co-director, Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine. "The 30 student-athletes we recognized this year are representative of the motivation, determination and perseverance that student-athletes all across America demonstrate on a daily basis."

Simmer, a junior defensive tackle, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the spring of his freshman year. Doctors originally told him he would not play football again, but he got a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, that assured him that if he had the surgery and recovered well, he could play again. He opted for the surgery, and on July 2, 2017, about 90 percent of the tumor, which had been pressing against his hearing and balancing nerves, was removed. The surgery took out his balancing nerve, forcing him to learn to walk again and causing him to lose the hearing in his left ear.

After missing the entire 2017 season, the native of Powder Springs, Georgia, returned to the field this year for the 15th-ranked Big Green to contribute 11 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss. Simmer's biggest game this season came in the showdown between Dartmouth and Princeton — both of which were undefeated at 7-0 at the time — as he was credited with a safety on a sack in the end zone, plus recovered a fumble for the Big Green.

"I am extremely grateful to be named one of the three recipients of the Mayo Comeback Player of the Year Award," Simmer said in a statement. "First, I would like to thank the Mayo Clinic and their wonderful staff for the exceptional care they provided during a time of need. The doctors at the Mayo Clinic believed in me and my recovery goals when others in the medical community did not and for that I am grateful. I would like to thank everyone that supported me through this entire process including my family, friends, and the entire Dartmouth community from my teammates and their families to the coaches, training staff and administration. Their constant support allowed me to push myself to the limit during my recovery and obtain my goals. I am thankful that I was able to take the field this year and look forward to continuing to play a game that I love."

Dixon, a 5-8, 178-pound wide receiver at Kent State, led the team in receiving as a freshman in 2015, but was forced to leave school and missed the next two seasons due to aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder, that first affected him in high school. He needed a life-saving bone marrow transplant, which his father gave to him, and had nine teeth removed to stop some of the bleeding. He went through eight days of chemotherapy treatments before the transplant. After nearly three years away from football, the native of Fort Myers, Florida, returned to Kent State and led the team with 52 receptions for 532 yards and two touchdowns.

Wimbush, a junior running back at Carson-Newman University, tore his ACL in the Eagles second game of the 2017 season versus St. Augustine. The Kingsland, Georgia, native shocked his doctors and trainers with a grueling and aggressive physical therapy regimen that allowed him to return to the field this season. In 11 games he carried the ball 151 times for 1,206 yards (leading the South Atlantic Conference) and seven touchdowns, added four receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown, and three punt returns for 33 yards.

For details on the 30 nominees, visit Comeback-Player.com or follow on Twitter at @CFB_ComebackPOY.

Schedules