In life, you're going to get knocked down. It's not a question of whether you will face adversity, only when, and how often.
For Ty Simpson, he faced plenty of it as Alabama's starting quarterback in 2025.
From a subpar performance in a season-opening loss to Florida State that had everyone ready to bury Alabama for good, to lackluster offensive line play all season in front of him that led to hits and various injuries, to the thrilling come-from-behind win over Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff, Simpson saw it all. And he saw plenty of adversity before he was ever the Tide's starter, too.
Simpson spent time on Wednesday at the 2026 Toyota NFL Draft Flag Football Camp in Pittsburgh. Toyota is funding fall registration fees for current players in the Pittsburgh Flag Football League's coed youth and high school girls to expand access and accelerate league growth. Simpson was among several current and future NFL players who participated, and he spoke to the media afterwards:
"It's one of the reasons why I decided to come out," Simpson said about his ability to deal with adversity. "All the adversity that I faced, even from the first game to the last game. One, people counting us out and putting us in a corner, and then us digging back out. Being down 17-0 to Oklahoma, coming back at their place, and winning. It's just something to where, if I was going to be able to play, then I was going to be on that field and play with my guys. Being able to fight through all that stuff, even though people blew it out of proportion, it was something...that's why I value the game so much."
NFL adversity will be nothing new to Ty Simpson
When you think about everything that Simpson went through to get to this part, it makes more sense why he took the risk of gambling on himself and entering the NFL Draft with no first-round guarantees and with a year of college eligibility left. He left significant money on the table to jump to the draft.
Simpson was thought to be the heir apparent to Bryce Young, but he lost his first Alabama QB battle in 2023 to Jalen Milroe. He sat behind Milroe for two years. He could have left after the 2023 season with Milroe entrenched as the starter following an SEC Championship and Rose Bowl berth.
Instead, he stayed, and he finally got his moment in the spotlight in 2025. Now, he'll look to build off his one productive season as the Alabama starter and make the leap to the NFL. He'll have to buck the trend of others with his number of starts who didn't pan out at the next level.
But that won't faze Simpson. He's never been one to follow the path of others. He's carving out his own, and whichever team drafts him this week will be happy they did for a variety of reasons.
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