However, surprisingly, he never went to jail that season and ended up playing the whole year, putting up 50 catches for 725 yards along with four touchdowns. He also ended up making one of the best plays in NFL history, flipping over Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington to score a touchdown.
The now-Minnesota Vikings receiver ended up facing his 15-day jail-term recently, claiming he is a better person now. He also apologized to many of the Vikings fans out there.
"Things happen for a reason. The man upstairs wanted me to change. It sucked I had to go through it that way. It made me a stronger, better person," Simpson told the Pioneer Press.
Simpson was pleaded guilty on March 1 that forced him to serve the jail-term. It was said that he had two pounds of marijuana brought to his house and he also add several other pounds of the drug already stored there.
"Everybody makes mistakes. I just want people to kind of forgive me," he said.
Simpson was signed to a one-year deal with the Vikings this off-season. He will be suspended for the first three games of the upcoming season.
"Those 15 days I spent in jail, it was terrible. It sucked," Simpson said. "Any kids out there, that's a place you don't want to be. Somebody tells you when to wake up, when to make your bed, when to take a shower, when you can have a snack. That's an obstacle you don't want to face. I want all kids to learn not to go down that path and to learn from me."
Simpson continued on.
"I paid my debt to society. I want to help people not make the same decision I made. One of my goals is to help people not go down that path like I did."
It's good to see Simpson learn his lesson. He is lucky he wasn't seeing years in jail for this, but good thing he is an NFL player.
A normal person with all of that would be in for a long time in prison.
Josh Dhani is the founder of FootBasket. He also contributes at Hoops Authority and Eight Points Nine Seconds. You can read more about him at his website. Follow him on Twitter @joshdhani.
