Simone Awards

2022 Simone Awards Show

Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Awards are presented to the most outstanding players in Greater Kansas City.

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This year&rsquo;s draft is in the books and another Simone winner heard his named called. This time Not only was a Simone winner drafted but he heard his name called in his home town as Kansas City hosted the draft.
Park Hill&rsquo;s Ronnie Bell was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round and he becomes the ninth Simone winner to be drafted. In addition to Simone winners three Buchanan winners and a Bell winner have also been drafted.
Here is the complete list of award winners who have been drafted:
<h3>Simone winners drafted</h3>
2017 Ronnie Bell, Park Hill, 2023 Draft 7th round 253 overall
2015 Skylar Thompson, Fort Osage 2022 Draft 7th round 247 overall
2014 Drew Lock Lee&rsquo;s Summit 2019 Draft 2nd Round 42 overall
2011 Evan Boehm Lee&rsquo;s Summit West 2016 Draft 4th Round 128 overall
2005 Josh Freeman Grandview 2009 Draft 1st Round 17 overall
2004 Chase Coffman Raymore-Peculiar 2009 Draft 3rd Round 98 overall
2000 Darren Sproles Olathe North 2005 Draft 4th Round 130 overall
1996 Ladell Betts Blue Springs 2002 Draft 2nd Round 56 overall
1986 Tim Ryan Rockhurst 1991 Draft 5th Round 136 overall
<h3>Buchanan Winners drafted</h3>
2014 Carlos Davis, Blue Springs 2020 Draft 7th Round 232 overall
2013/12 Elijah Lee, Blue Springs 2017 Draft 7th Round 232 overall
2010/11 Evan Boehm Lee&rsquo;s Summit West 2016 Draft 4th Round 128 overall
<h3>Bobby Bell Winners drafted</h3>
2012 Malik Collins, Center, 2016 Draft 3rd Round 67 overall
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Simone Award winners who have been drafted by the NFL

Hearing their name called

The Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Awards Presented by The McCarthy Auto Group is presented annually to the most outstanding high school football player in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. The award was originally established in 1932 in the name of Dr. D.M. Nigro and continued until Dr. Nigro&rsquo;s death in 1976.
No award was given from 1976-83, until Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Simone, as a tribute to their 12-year old son Tommy, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in April 1983, reinstated the award.
The recipient of this prestigious award is selected by a vote of the high school football coaches and select media members in the metropolitan area. The award is given to the football player most representative of excellence on the playing field.
The trophy presented symbolizes the qualities of love, courage and friendship &ndash; qualities young Tommy so aptly displayed.
Along with the trophy, which resides at the high school of the recipient for a period of one year, the Simone-Fontana Foundation presents a donation of $1,500 to the athletic department of the recipients&rsquo; high school.
Past winners are a who&rsquo;s, who of Kansas City High School football. Including Olathe North&rsquo;s Darren Sproles who played in the NFL for more than a decade, Lee&rsquo;s Summit&rsquo;s Drew Lock who is the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and Fort Osage&rsquo;s Skylar Thompson who was recently drafted by the Miami Dolphins.
For 10 years The Simone Award was the only honor given by the Simone Foundation. The awards expanded to honor defensive players along with offensive linemen. The Junious &ldquo;Buck&rdquo; Buchanan Memorial Award was established in 1992 and is presented annually to the most outstanding lineman or linebacker in the big class (Missouri Classes 5-6 and Kansas Classes 5A-6A) category. From 1992-99, the award was given to one Missouri and one Kansas player, but the award has only been given to the most outstanding player since 2000.
Buck Buchanan was the first player taken in the 1963 American Football League Draft. Selected by the Kansas City Chiefs, Buck quickly proved the rave notices that preceded him were not unfounded. Eddie Robinson, his coach at Grambling, where he had been an NAIA All-America in 1962, called him &ldquo;the finest lineman I have seen.&rdquo;
The Buchanan Award has quite the roster of winners. In the last decade several winners such as Lee&rsquo;s Summit West&rsquo;s Evan Boehm and Blue Springs&rsquo; Elijah Lee and Carlos Davis have gone on to have NFL careers. Lee currently plays for the Chiefs while Davis is with the Pittsburg Steelers.
A few years later the awards expanded again. The Frank Fontana Memorial Award was established in 1999 in memory of Frank Fontana, an outstanding athlete who excelled in football and basketball. In 1981, Frank captained the State Champion St. Pius X High School football team. He was also selected to the all-Northland team that year. In basketball, he captained the Warriors&rsquo; squad.
Many small school quarterbacks and running backs have earned this honor. The Fontana elevated players who may have gone underrecognized with an award of their own. Some fantastic seasons have been honored including Holden&rsquo;s Max Mickey who ran for 3,382 yards which was a Missouri state record at that time and Bishop Miege&rsquo;s Carter Putz who set the Kansas passing record during his career with the Stags.
In 2000 another defensive/offensive lineman award was added to honor small school players. The Bobby Bell Award was established and is presented annually to the most outstanding defensive lineman/linebacker in the small class (Missouri Classes 1-4 and Kansas Classes 1A-4A) category.
The award is named for former Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro and Pro Football Hall of Fame player Bobby Bell. Bobby Bell was the most highly honored college lineman of the 1962 season. His coach at the University of Minnesota described the two-time All-America choice and Outland Trophy winner as &ldquo;the greatest lineman I have ever seen.&rdquo;
This honor has been given to some of the best players in the Metro who just don&rsquo;t go to a big school. Winners include Tommy Simone&rsquo;s younger brothers Anthony Jr. and Charlie and Center&rsquo;s Maliek Collins who currently plays for the Las Vegas Raiders.
The awards grew again in 2007. At the suggestion of high school football referee Curtis Whiters, the Simone-Fontana Foundation contacted Otis Taylor family friend and Kansas City icon Ollie Gates about starting the Otis Taylor Award to recognize the most outstanding wide receiver/tight end in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Ollie took the idea to Otis Taylor and his family, who gave the award their blessing.
Otis Taylor was one of the best and most exciting wide receivers of his era. He played in three AFC-NFC Pro Bowls, following the 1970-72 seasons. At the conclusion of his career he owned the Kansas City Chiefs&rsquo; career records for receiving yards (7,306), receiving touchdowns (57) and 100-yard receiving games (20). He is currently a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Some of the most athletic players in the Metro have won this award including Lee&rsquo;s Summit West&rsquo;s Monte Harrison who is currently playing Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Angels and current Michigan star receiver Ronnie Bell who also won the Simone Award after his senior season at Park Hill.
In the last decade several more awards have been added. In 2010 the All-Simone Team was added bringing even more recognition to Metro football players. In 2011 the Nathan Stiles Inspiration Award began and is given to a person who has made an impact on football in the Metro. The Stiles Award is in memory of Spring Hill player Nathan Stiles who passed away after being injured in a game in 2010. In 2011 the foundation began honoring the offensive and defensive players of the year from the Kansas City Missouri School District Interscholastic League to bring more recognition to inner-city football.&nbsp; Other awards that are handed out are the Gordon Docking Media Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
This past year one of the biggest changes occurred when The McCarthy Auto Group became the presenting sponsor of the awards. In May the first McCarthy Auto Group/Simone Foundation scholarship was awarded to Sumner's Rickey Brown who earned $5,000 for his work on the field and as a leader in the Sumner athletic programs.
This honor will continue and be awarded in the spring with the winner recognized at the Simone Awards ceremony after the football season.
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From one award to honoring dozens The Simone Awards are a staple of Kansas City High School Football 

Honoring the best

Tommy Simone had much to live for&mdash;a close supportive family; good friends; excellent grades; athletic talent; maturity beyond his 12 years.
Most visual in Tommy&rsquo;s life were achievements in sports.
He simply excelled -- whatever the sport, whatever the season. Football marked his fall, basketball his winter, baseball his spring and summer.
Tommy combined uncommon athletic prowess with a drive to succeed that was rare for his age. He drilled over and over to perfect his skills.
His own and rival coaches conceded that the happy, modest youngster caused a lasting impression -- wherever he competed.
Tommy lost his life in mid-April. He was struck by a police patrol wagon, hurrying to answer a distress call, as he crossed Independence Avenue near the Monroe Avenue intersection in the early evening.
Darkness and the speed of the vehicle, dispatched on a &ldquo;Code 3&rdquo; (without flashing lights or sirens) hampered vision of Tommy, wearing his baseball sweatsuit, and the driver.
The Northland boy is remembered as the kid everybody liked.
He smiled a lot, he was a modest hard-worker, he sidestepped arguments with teammates. His baseball coach, Clay Green, said Tommy&rsquo;s special gift was that he gave back whatever he received -- respect, love, friendship.
Green watched Tommy develop from a mediocre pitcher for Lightfoot Photography in the Clay-Platte Baseball League to an outstanding one. The coach recalls countless hours Tommy pitched to his father Anthony, his pitching coach.
Basketball coach Tom Laughlin, who guided Tommy for four seasons in the Metro Parochial League, can&rsquo;t remember a missed practice. Tommy was a sixth-grade center last winter for the team at St. Patrick&rsquo;s Church, where he was an alter boy and straight A church school student.
Laughlin, who also coached Tommy in two seasons of flag football, remembers a team player, team leader and confidence-builder, who never took advantage of a size edge and never backed away from larger opponents.
After Tommy&rsquo;s death, a rival center, a year older and taller, wrote Tommy&rsquo;s parents that their son was the most-threatening opponent he had ever faced, including boys his own age.
Rival basketball coach Warren Roberson of St. Therese describes Tommy as the best his teams ever played against. Roberson was struck by the youth&rsquo;s pleasant manner and lack of conceit.
Tommy stands at the top of the best player he has handled for line coach Raymond &ldquo;Lefty&rdquo; Leftridge of the Norbank Raiders. Leftridge recalls a fine young man, always smiling and in control of his anger, who played with full-speed aggressiveness.
He earned a berth on the A team, as an offensive tackle and defensive end, when most kids his age were playing in lower classes.
Between games, Tommy practiced with help from his parents and encouragement of his sister Savina, 10, a softball player and the bat girl for Lightfoot.
The Simones&rsquo; other child at the time of Tommy&rsquo;s death is Rosemarie, who was six months old. The Simones had two more sons Anthony Jr. and Charlie who would both go on to play football at St. Pius X and win the Bobby Bell Award as the top small school lineman or linebacker.
Tommy pitched to his dad until dusk the day of his death.
The Tom Simone Memorial Scholarship Fund and incorporated charitable foundation honors Tommy annually with awards to area scholar-athletes.
Tommy&rsquo;s dozen years form a vivid legacy for his contemporaries.

Awarded to the most oustanding high school football players in Greater Kansas City

Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Awards

Top Stories

Hearing their name called

Honoring the best

Tommy's Story

2022 Award Winners

simone award

Kendrick Bell

fontana award

Mac Armstrong

buchanan award

Melvin Laster

bell award

Harold Tsafack

taylor award

Isaiah Coppage

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2022 Simone Awards Show

Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Awards