Raised in the Southern California city of Cerritos, Rick
Simpson, a 39-year-old physical education teacher, was born with
sports on the brain.
Hollister– Raised in the Southern California city of Cerritos, Rick Simpson, a 39-year-old physical education teacher, was born with sports on the brain.
“I come from an athletic family,” Simpson said. “When I was a kid I played football, basketball, baseball and ran track. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a coach.”
Simpson enjoyed a short stint as something of a child star, appearing in commercials for several large companies.
“I did work for Lifesavers, Oscar-Meyer, Mountain Dew, KFC and Applejacks cereal,” he said. “If you’re from my generation, it’s very likely you’ve seen my face before. I started when I was five and quit when I was eight–honestly, I kinda hated it. I didn’t mind the money, but I had to leave right after school all the time. I wanted to pursue sports, instead. I never really wanted to be an actor and my parents didn’t really like the idea, either.”
Not only did Simpson come from an athletic family, his neighborhood must have fostered his love of sports: Simpson grew up a few doors away from football legend Troy Aikman.
“We were about the same age, our brothers and sisters were on the same sports teams, and our moms coached together, too,” he said. “I saw him about a year and a half ago, and he’s as nice as he ever was. The fame didn’t go to his head. He’s just a cool guy who happens to be a great athlete.”
After graduation from high school, Simpson embarked on a church mission to Illinois, which he recalls as a positive and influential experience.
“When you do something like that, you have to grow up real fast, and you learn a lot about yourself,” he said. “You’re living with someone you don’t know, and you deal with a lot of rejection – some success, but a lot of rejection. There’s no TV, no radio, no phone and no newspaper. You only get to call home four times a year. Living like that, you learn to focus, and I didn’t have a lot of that before I left.”
Simpson also spent some time in the sports memorabilia trade, organizing collector’s shows themed around a given city’s local teams. During this time, he worked closely with athletic stars from around the country, a job most sports fans can only drool over.
“Most of the guys we worked with were baseball,” he said. “And most of them were good to us … Joe DiMaggio was really standoffish, but some guys, like Ted Williams, were really cool.” Simpson has worked with Will Clark, Darryl Strawberry, Ken Griffey Jr., and Willie Mays, among others.
Simpson received his BS in physical education from Cal State Dominguez Hills, with minors in biology and health. He coached at the high school level for a number of years, before receiving word that Gavilan College had an opening for coaches.
“It’s nice up here,” he said. “Not much of a Giants fan, though. I’m a Dodgers fan, and I miss the Lakers and the L.A. Kings.”
Simpson now teaches physical education at Brownell Junior High in Gilroy, and is working on his Master’s degree so he can coach at the college level. He says that by far, however, his finest achievement has been fatherhood.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “My oldest boy Luke is two and half, and my son Ty is 15 months. I have another boy on the way. Both my sons are very active, Luke even plays soccer and T-ball at the YMCA. They both totally love sports. I’m really proud of them.”
