The Explosion of Redemption: Trying to Win the Game of Personal Forgiveness in Life: The Journey of Former Nfl Player Ricky C. Simmons

By Ricky C. Simmons

One day a person is going to see your name somewhere on some piece of paper. When they inquire about you, what are they going to find out?

Life is the same for all of us. We live, and we die. What makes us different is how we live it. Throughout my years as a football player at the University of Nebraska and my time in the USFL and NFL, I made decisions that were not in my best interest. While battling demons and opposition that are common to us all, I made mistakes that could have taken me out.

However, here I am, still living and still loving. With that love, it is my hope that by sharing my story, I can help someone see a light of perseverance and forgiveness in areas where darkness is present.

I want to help somebody live life to the fullest. Or, as I say, live life like another day in paradise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546209034

Ricky C. Simmons

Ricky C. Simmons is a former NFL Player who through his life has in encountered some of the darkest places a human could go. He has successfully maneuvered those deep valleys to emerge as a light to others that may be approaching, in, or just coming out of those same dark places. He has dedicated his life to pursuing happiness in mind, body and soul for himself and those he comes in contact with! He wants to show everyone how to live life like another day in paradise! He also is the author of the #1 book “The Explosion of Redemption.”

Book preview

THE

EXPLOSION

OF

REDEMPTION:

Trying to Win the Game of

Personal Forgiveness

in Life

The Journey of Former NFL

Player Ricky C. Simmons

RICKY C. SIMMONS

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AuthorHouse™

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Phone: [phone]

© 2017 The Journey of Former NFL Player Ricky C. Simmons. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/25/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-0904-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-0902-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-0903-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017914460

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Overtime

Game Winner

Rick’s Career Stats

United States Football League

References

Acknowledgements

About the Author

To Coach Osborne, thank you for helping me see the light on what forgiveness truly is. Thank you for believing in me.

Introduction

For your personal consideration, I would like to share with you two things in life you can set your watch to. The first thing is we all are going to leave this earth one day. It is a scientific fact! No matter how rich or how poor you are and no matter how good or how bad you are, we will all exit the game of life. The second thing is not the proverbial pun on words that many would expect me to say. Many people would include enjoying your life, living your life happy, achieving your dreams, making others happy, or serving humanity in some way as the second thing you can count on throughout your life’s journey. When talking about life, I do not disagree with those traditional superlatives. However, I will offer one many people will shy away from: FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness personally and outwardly is a word many people fight with daily. The second thing in life you can set your watch to is you are going to deal with forgiveness of someone or yourself for offenses causing your life’s journey to become painful or stop abruptly.

Before I was a professional athlete, I was a man. Before I was a man, I was a child. Before I was a child, I was put in a predicament that would cause me to fight with forgiveness all of my life.

When I decided to write this book, I had to realize that in order to share my story, it would have to be based on forgiveness. I had to forgive myself as well as those who I could never ask why I should forgive them for what they did to me in the first place. And let me tell you: forgiving someone who harmed you is one of the hardest things in life to do.

Since I am a retired football player, I wanted to look at my life and the forgiveness needed to live it in a healthy way like I look at the game of football. In football, you have four quarters with a time limit to put your team in the best position to win the game. If you cannot win the game in four quarters, you are given an overtime period in which someone is going to win and someone is going to lose. In life, you are given several quarters to fulfill your purpose. For some of us, time runs out before we win the game and for others, we get overtime. Although you do not get a chance to select most of the things that will happen to you that impact how you play (which we will call opponents), how you play the game of life is up to you. I think the old, popular Las Vegas statement is appropriate here: You have to play the hand that you are dealt. Some people have traumatic events that happen early in life that cause them to go through the rest of the quarters playing life sad, depressed, or angry. Some of us are put in positions on the field of life early in our existence to no fault of our own. This could cause the way we play the game of life to be more difficult than it must be. Therefore, I wanted to share my story. I played life like I played the game: ALL OUT. Little did I know, it would cause me great pain and those around me and leaving me in need of forgiveness. Once I realized the importance of forgiveness, the need for forgiveness is what I ended up making the focus of my game plan.

In life, setting my watch to forgiveness is the best thing I ever could have done. Although none of us ask to be born, none of us seek out to be hurt either. As you turn the pages reading about my ups and downs, I want you to know that my success and current place in life came with an explosion of redemption that I had to struggle to find. When playing a football game like I did for the majority of my life, I can tell you that each quarter brings its own trials and tribulations. Each quarter influences how the game will end. How you play in each quarter will determine the outcome of how you end the game. However, no matter how many ups and downs you experience in the game, if you forgive the mistakes you made, you can bet that you will be in a better position to pull out a victory!

I have accomplished a lot on the playing field between the goal posts, but my greatest achievement in life has been forgiving myself for my shortcomings and those who played a part in any of my pain.

1st Quarter

The 1st quarter of my life was not the usual beginning many people experience. Often, I wish I could go back to my birth and talk to my biological mother and father. I have so many questions. Questions that I will never have answers to, but nonetheless, I still had to offer a dose of forgiveness for what they did. One of the most important questions would be why did you not want me.

This question was the bane of my existence for many years. I mean, why would a child, a baby, be forced to deal with rejection so soon? I can guarantee that none of us asked to be born. We do not get to choose our parents or the circumstances we are born into. Likewise, you cannot avoid addressing the emotional, physical, and mental impact of those early decisions on your life, for which you played no part in, as you try to find your way in this world.

The bitterness that one might gather from being given up at birth would stifle anybody’s hope for a positive future. Although I don’t have any memory of my adoption, I was blessed to be adopted by two loving people who would curve my unfortunate introduction into this world with their love. Their dedication to me is partly responsible for my ability to forgive my biological parents for abandoning me.

Although life for me began with rejection, I thank God, I was too young to understand it, right away. The good thing is the two people who adopted me would help give me an identity to foster my journey in a positive direction versus the negative course I was placed in at birth.

My birth certificate states I was born in Tyler, Texas, on January 29, 1961 at 1:29 am. I do not know anything other than my biological parents did not want me and a biological grandmother did not want me, because she was moving to California. According to my birth certificate, on February 2, 1961, I was adopted by Clyde and Bertha Simmons of Greenville, Texas. I do not remember too much about my early years, like birthdays or holidays. However, I do know since I was given up at birth for adoption, my adopted parents had the duty of naming me. They chose the name Ricky Clyde Simmons.

I was raised in a small town called Greenville, Texas. Greenville was known