TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – “Seeing the stuff he does doesn’t seem real,” said Godby junior Jayse Doss of his teammate, Jamarin Simmons. “The one hand, the way he goes over people.”
“It’s 24/7 always open. If he’s guarded, he’s still getting open,” added Godby head coach John Holston.
That is what’s made the Godby wide receiver one of the top recruits in the country.
“I’m just always open,” said Simmons. “Every time I run a route, a kid is like, he’s always open, he’s always open.”
It’s also earned him one of the best nicknames in the game.
“Everybody just started calling me Waffle House.”
Waffle House, because like the American institution, Simmons is always open, 24-7-365.
“Last year it caught fire and became a trended thing,” said Holston. “I started seeing kids around the area with him on their phones as a screensaver which was a little weird at first, but now I guess it’s reasonable.”
Never smothered or covered, the nickname has lived up to the hype, as earlier this month, Simmons’ talent on the field made him one of just eleven high school football players to sign an NIL deal with Nike.
“This man’s in high school with a Nike NIL deal, can’t be real,” said Doss. “For him to be a big athlete like this is insane for sure.”
“To have a kid come out of Tallahassee and to get everything that’s done nationally in Tallahassee right at Godby serving one of the poorest zip codes in Florida, that’s huge,” added Holston. “It just shows that you don’t have to go anywhere special to get what you need. If you put in the work, you can get it and they’ll find you.”
Work that’s earned him the respect of his teammates, and made them better in return.
“He’s a five-star for a reason, so going against a five-star everyday perfecting my craft and making me improve, me also pushing him as a player,” said Doss.
“I push them to be the best. To be the best you have to go against the best,” said Simmons. “I feel like a leader. All my teammates look up to me. Not many kids make it out to do what I’m going to go do. It’s a blessing.”
That’s an order, we can get behind.
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