For Myles Sims, the work never ends.
Case in point, Sims awoke New Year’s Day and hit the road to Miami. Not by plane, but by pickup truck, with most of the belongings from his Atlanta apartment in town. It was time to start serious training for the next chapter of his athletic career.
“And when I got to Miami, I got out of the truck, and I was so exhausted, but my trainer made me run a 40 (yard dash) right then and there,” Sims said.
Sims, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound defensive back who wrapped up his Georgia Tech career in December, is banking on his work ethic as the selling point to NFL executives who may consider making him part of their franchise ahead of the 2024 season. The Atlanta product showcased some of that work ethic and athletic ability March 15 at Tech’s Pro Day.
“This is a new level, it’s not college, so I definitely had to go back to the drawing board and revise some of my goals, make new goals and set those goals and multiply them by 10 so I know I’m doing my due diligence and blazing a trail for people to come after me,” Sims said that day. “I know it’s a new beginning, so I’m very sponge-like when it comes to information and very receptive for anything that comes my way, and I’m just humbly looking to grow.”
Sims graduated from Westlake High School in 2017 and enrolled at Michigan in January of the following year. He spent the 2018 season with the Wolverines before deciding to return to Atlanta and play for his hometown Yellow Jackets. Over the next five seasons, Sims would appear in 52 games, make 136 tackles, pick off two passes and break up 16 passes.
Sims was Tech’s highest-rated defensive player in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus.
“I enjoyed Georgia Tech. I enjoyed my entire tenure here,” Sims said at Pro Day. “I feel like they prepared me for life after football, not just for football and the next level, just as a whole, in the classroom and life skills, being a people person and being a student of the game, knowing how to prepare and be mentally ready for any type of adversity.”
Sims, a Michigan native nicknamed Spider, said after working out for scouts at Tech’s Brock Practice Facility he went to a seafood dinner with family and friends and reflected on his journey. It’s a journey that the past 2-1/2 months included strict training and a regimented diet of, “protein, carbs and minerals, protein shakes, no seasoning, straight chicken or fish or white rice and a green.”
For six days a week, Sims said his wake-up call was at 6:30 a.m., and his training day ended at 4 p.m. That routine, he said, strengthened his discipline and patience with the process, a process he believes is bigger than himself.
“You just gotta tell yourself every day you wake up, ‘It’s not about me. It’s about my family, it’s about my kid’s kids, it’s about the legacy that you wanna build.’ It all starts with me, and it’s just a simple faith in yourself, believing in who you are and your God-given abilities and your attributes and what you can bring to the table,” he added. “You gotta know who you are. You gotta know your strong suits, you gotta know your weak suits and work on your weak suits just as much as you work on your strong suits. People wanna shy away from what they’re not good at, but the moment you attack what you’re not good at, it just only makes you a well-rounded individual.”
In 2022, Sims was a nominee for the Wuerffel Trophy, which awards college football players for their community-service efforts. He worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army and Jackets Without Borders while earning his degree in business administration from Tech. As a youth, according to the Michigan athletics website, Sims helped build bicycles for children in his community.
It all has been part of Sims’ foundation of creating a well-rounded football player now yearning for an opportunity to showcase his stuff in the NFL. That opportunity could come as early as April 25-27 during the NFL draft.
“They’re getting a determined beast,” he said when asked what a pro franchise would get with Sims on its roster. “Just relentless. Smart. Intuitive. Persevering. Humble. Just an advocate for development.”
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
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