25 Facts About Ken Simonton

Ken Simonton III was born on June 7,1979 and is an American former professional football player who was a running back.

Ken Simonton played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, earning first-team All-American honors in 2000.

Ken Simonton was a two-sport star for the Pittsburg High School Pirates.

Ken Simonton was a three-time all-league selection as a running back and he was named all-league as a defensive back in his senior year.

Ken Simonton was a first-team All-Northern California selection, a first-team all-region selection by the Contra Costa Times and was named Offensive Player of the Year in the region by Sports Focus.

Ken Simonton played outfield for the Pirates baseball team and was all-league as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Ken Simonton was listed in Parade Magazine in 1996 as one of the top 100 college baseball prospects in the nation.

Ken Simonton always wanted to attend USC and was recruited to come to the Trojans by assistant coach Mike Riley.

Ken Simonton chose to follow Riley to Oregon State instead of going to USC.

Ken Simonton became the first freshman to ever rush for over 100 yards in his first game for Oregon State and then the first freshman to have back-to-back 100-yard rushing games.

Ken Simonton finished fourth in the Pac-10 in rushing with an average of 93.5 yards per game and was fourth in scoring with 78 points and 7.1 average points per game.

Ken Simonton set an OSU single-season scoring record with 118 points, single-season rushing record with 1,486 yards, and all-purpose running mark with 1,705 yards.

Ken Simonton established a Beaver record by rushing for over 100 yards in five straight games.

Firmly entrenched as one of the premier tailbacks in the Pac-10, Ken Simonton rushed for 1,559 yards in his junior season, again a school record at the time.

Ken Simonton's efforts earned him a spot on the first-team All-Pac-10 Conference and first-team All-American rosters as well as being named the College Football News Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and finishing ninth on the Heisman Trophy Ballot.

Ken Simonton totaled 971 rushing yards on 239 carries with 8 touchdowns in his senior year, coming within 29 yards of his 4th consecutive 1,000 yard season.

Ken Simonton left Oregon State with 5,044 rushing yards, which is still the school rushing record.

Ken Simonton was undrafted in the 2002 NFL draft, mainly due to questions of his size and durability and how that would translate into an NFL running back.

Ken Simonton signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers on April 26,2002, but was released shortly thereafter.

Ken Simonton next signed with the Buffalo Bills January 23,2003.

Ken Simonton was selected as the NFL Europe Offensive MVP after having a league-high 841 rushing yards as well as 39 receptions, which was 4th in league.

Ken Simonton hung on with the team for the season, getting minimal playing time.

Ken Simonton was again signed by the San Francisco 49ers in November 2004 by former college coach Dennis Erickson.

Ken Simonton signed with the Calgary Stampeders on May 5,2007.

Ken Simonton played in only one game, and was released on July 14,2008.