Here is the link.Decide for yourself.He needs to dig deeper among others Brian Wise not on there and Lou Weber from Argo was one hell of a WR.Tom Tomlinson & Lou were a super connection that kept them in games every week.Set a then state record for yards receiving vs Reavis.HF had some great guys too in the 80's not mentioned http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...ta-spt-pat-disabato-column-st-0819-story.html
Pat Disabato top 10 WR'S all time South Burbs
- Thread starter superac777
- Start date
If you’re gonna visit that era, you have to mention John Newton from Richards. With Rutkowski at QB, that hookup was devastating. Just ask JCA
Brother Rice is in Chicago, Pat Disabato not the suburbs. If he included BR than I would submit Tony Simmons from St. Rita.
High school
In 1993, he was named Chicago Sun-Times Prep Athlete of the Year for his participation in both football and track. He shares a distinction with two other NFL players who also attended both St. Rita and the University of Wisconsin–Madison: former high school and college teammate Ahmad Merritt, and former Chicago Bear Dennis Lick. Simmons and Merritt played against each other and caught touchdown passes in World Bowl IX. In April 2011, Simmons was inducted into the St. Rita High School Hall of Fame
College career
Simmons played college football at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He left Wisconsin as the school's all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 23 (this record has since been broken by Lee Evans), earning him the nickname "Touchdown Tony" among the Camp Randall faithful
NFL
Simmons was drafted into the NFL in the second round (52nd overall pick) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Simmons played five seasons as a pro with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants.
NFL Europe career
In 2001, Simmons starred at wide receiver for the regular-season champion Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europa. He finished the season with 32 catches for 538 yards and caught seven touchdowns.
CFL
Simmons played from 2004 to 2007 for CFL teams Edmonton Eskimos, and BC Lions as a wide receiver. He recorded 34 receptions for 504 yards, averaging 14.8 yards with four touchdowns. BC Lions reached and won the Prestigious 94th Grey Cup.
Personal
In November 2015, Simmons joined the cast of American Grit an American reality television series starring WWE wrestler John Cena filmed at the foothills of Mount Rainier in Eatonville, Washington that premiered on Fox on April 14, 2016. Simmons finished third in the competition
High school
In 1993, he was named Chicago Sun-Times Prep Athlete of the Year for his participation in both football and track. He shares a distinction with two other NFL players who also attended both St. Rita and the University of Wisconsin–Madison: former high school and college teammate Ahmad Merritt, and former Chicago Bear Dennis Lick. Simmons and Merritt played against each other and caught touchdown passes in World Bowl IX. In April 2011, Simmons was inducted into the St. Rita High School Hall of Fame
College career
Simmons played college football at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He left Wisconsin as the school's all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 23 (this record has since been broken by Lee Evans), earning him the nickname "Touchdown Tony" among the Camp Randall faithful
NFL
Simmons was drafted into the NFL in the second round (52nd overall pick) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Simmons played five seasons as a pro with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants.
NFL Europe career
In 2001, Simmons starred at wide receiver for the regular-season champion Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europa. He finished the season with 32 catches for 538 yards and caught seven touchdowns.
CFL
Simmons played from 2004 to 2007 for CFL teams Edmonton Eskimos, and BC Lions as a wide receiver. He recorded 34 receptions for 504 yards, averaging 14.8 yards with four touchdowns. BC Lions reached and won the Prestigious 94th Grey Cup.
Personal
In November 2015, Simmons joined the cast of American Grit an American reality television series starring WWE wrestler John Cena filmed at the foothills of Mount Rainier in Eatonville, Washington that premiered on Fox on April 14, 2016. Simmons finished third in the competition
It says the list is based solely off what they did on the high school football field. I noticed you didn’t put any stats up for Tony Simmons. I’m going to assume that’s because even though he was a beast, the stats weren’t there. That was early 90’s when St Rita had a stable of running backs every year & pounded the ball down people’s throats. Reading is a skill......so, even though it’s awesome that Tony Simmons went on to score 23 TD’s at Wisconsin & score in the World Bowl and be in a John Cena tv show.....it does not make him one of the top 10 receivers in the Southland in the last 29 years.
Reading is a skill... so is geography. When did BR move to the suburbs?
Well if player of the year is not good enough for you....read the following:
Add another name Ahmad Merritt was born in Chicago and named after former NFL running back and wide receiver Ahmad Rashad, who was his father's favorite player at the time. Merritt attended St. Rita High School on Chicago's south side, where, as a senior, he earned All-America honors from Prep Football Report and SuperPrep. He had 63 receptions for 1,240 yards and 23 touchdowns throughout his high school career. Merritt was a grade school, high school, and college teammate of former NFL player Tony Simmons.
I think Tony was a better player. Ahmad followed Tony to Wisconsin.
Does an All-American make your list?
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I'm not here to argue semantics but simmons was not Player of the Year for football, he was athlete of the year for his participation in multiple sports. And your rebuttal pretty much makes my argument for me. You put some Ahmad Merritt stats up that show he had 63 catches in his career, if you read that article you see that Nagel, Weishar & Smalling each had more than that in a SEASON and some of those guys had over 200 catches in their career. No one is arguing that Meritt & Simmons were great athletes and went on to big things.....but they were not among the 10 best wide receivers that Mr. Disabato ranked. It's not that big of a deal, let it go. He made it clear that it was about high school production, not NFL catches or reality tv shows. And for the record BR & SR are both in the SOUTHLAND, nowhere in the article does it say SOUTH SUBURBS.
A lot of these kids played before I started watch H.S. football. Is Pat Disabato list based upon zip codes? Selling newspapers? These guys don’t sound like all-staters or all-ameicans:
Brandon Johnson, Providence (1999 graduate) 44 catches for 796 yards and 10 Tds.
Rocco Mossuto, Oak Forest (1997) 31 catches for 819 yards and 13 TDs as a senior.
Greg Lewis, Rich South (1998): Caught 56 passes for 830 yards and 12 TDs as a senior
Do passing records get diluted if a team passes all the time? Didn’t some one like OPRF pass every play but one for the whole year. How many of these catches were game changing? How does 200 catches not make all-american but half that many does. Just asking.
Again is BR fielding a “B” freshmen team. How many blue teams are?
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The article refers to players in the "Southland," not just the south suburbs. "Southland" is an expression the Southtown developed to incorporate their entire readership market (south side and south suburbs). Superacc said suburbs, not Disabato.
Miles Boykin from providence has to be concidered best wr. He was a beast. If you ever seen him play, he looked like a man playing against boys. He had sure speed and could catch anything thrown near him. His legs were like tree trunks. Could not arm tackle him. I guess that’s why Notre Dame picked him up. Lol.
