Sumner's Brown earns first McCarthy Auto Group/Simone scholarship

Tuesday at Sumner Academy a new award of the Simone Awards presented by The McCarthy Auto Group began.

The first Simone Awards/McCarthy Auto Group Scholarship was awarded to the Sabres’ Rickey Brown. He was recognized at school and awarded with a one-time $5,000 scholarship to help him as he begins his college career in the fall.

“When McCarthy Auto Group became the presenting sponsor of The Simone Awards, we knew we wanted to incorporate a scholarship for a graduating Senior that is also been playing football for one of the schools within the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association,” Karl Kramer Chief Marketing Officer of The McCarthy Auto Group said. “High School scholarships are a core part of the community/philanthropic efforts of McCarthy Auto Group.  In 2022, we will be blessed to award 76 individual scholarships, across the communities that we serve.”

“The vast majority of the scholarships we award go to support and lift up those students that might be caught in the middle.  They are kids with great character and feel that supporting others and their communities as a whole is very rewarding.  They also might be a B or C student but will most likely be a great community/business leader in the future.

Brown has excelled in the classroom and in athletics since coming to Sumner as an eighth grader. He is a three-time letter winner in football and a state qualifier in track. This summer Brown will play in the GKCFCA All-Star Game. Off the field he has taken college level courses and maintained a 3.2 GPA.

When Kramer, Charlie Simone and members of the coaching staff and administration entered Brown’s Biology class he said he didn’t know what was going on.

“It just means a lot coming from Wyandotte County and not having all the money in the world,” Brown said. “Them taking a chance and giving me any money at all I’m in grateful for everything they did for me today. That entrance in class, I had just got done taking a quiz and it is still blowing my mind right now.”

In his nomination Sumner Head Coach Andrew Wright said Brown was very deserving of the honor.

“He is a tremendous young man who has had a difficult year,” Wright said. “He lost his father earlier this fall from cancer. He is a quiet kid, and we really did not find out until his dad had already passed.  His father was also a Sumner Academy graduate. Again, he is a great young man who I am very proud of.  He represents our school and community with the highest integrity.  He will do great things in whatever he choices to do in life.”

The new scholarship is a part of The McCarthy Auto Group becoming the Presenting Sponsor of the Simone Awards last year. Brown is the first recipient and he will be honored again at the next Simone Awards Ceremony following the 2022 high school football season.

Charlie Simone said this scholarship is import to the Thomas A. Simone Foundation because it allows the foundation and The McCarthy Auto Group help a student athlete that might be missed.

“We give awards out to some of the best high school football athletes in the Kansas City area,” Simone said. “I’m actually grateful for Karl and The McCarthy Auto Group to actually bring on some awards as this one. As much as the Awards have grown and as big as Kansas City is, there are some gems that slip through the cracks. This gives us an opportunity to find that person.”