Episode 22: GETTIN’ HECTIC with Rob Simms, Creighton University Women’s Basketball Broadcaster and Vice President of the Prenger Solutions Group
Growing up in a family of rabid fans for their hometown St. Louis Cardinals, Rob Simms recognized his love for baseball early in life. However, after Rob’s father passed away suddenly due to cancer when Rob was just 6 years old, baseball soon become more than just something to watch. It became something to live and something to be. Rob discovered peace and solace in the hours spent practicing and playing. Eventually, his efforts ed to success in high school that opened the door to an athletic scholarship to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.
After four years of hard work both on the diamond and in the classroom, Rob endured the painful crossroads of the nearly simultaneous end of an athletic and academic career that had for so long been his identity. A career in sports media followed, eventually leading to a position as a sports information director at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Over time, he began to realize that his goals as a husband and dad were increasingly at odds with the demands of his job, and he left to pursue a career in non-profit fundraising, ultimately finding success in helping clients raise more than $100 million in capital while still getting to serve as a broadcaster as the voice of the Creighton Bluejays Women’s Basketball team for the past 21 years.
Hear Rob tell his story of overcoming the painful loss of his dad early in life to eventually find his passion on the baseball diamond, jobs in professional sports and a Division I athletics department, and eventually a highly successful career as a non-profit fundraiser in Episode 23: GETTIN’ HECTIC
contact
https://twitter.com/IamRobSimms
Episode Summary
Former Student Athlete Rob Simms Shares Struggle of Losing Father at Six and Finding Path to Successful Sports, Academic, and Professional Careers
SUMMARY
Rob Simms is a sports media personality, nonprofit fundraiser, and the voice of the Creighton Bluejays women’s basketball team. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, with a love for baseball, fostered by his mother who was a rabid Cardinals fan. His father passed away suddenly when Rob was six years old, leaving his mother to raise three kids on her own. Rob found solace in baseball, leading to success in high school and an athletic scholarship to Truman State University. Rob’s career in sports media and non-profit fundraising followed, raising over $100 million in capital. In this episode of Becoming Undone, Rob tells his story of overcoming the painful loss of his dad to eventually finding his passion in sports and success in his career.
Rob and his guest were discussing Rob’s upbringing and his life in baseball. Rob’s father passed away when he was just 41 years old, leaving Rob’s mother Earlene to care for Rob, his sister Susie, and his sister Renee. Earlene was able to keep her family together and even earned a college degree, becoming successful in the public education system. Rob played baseball in high school and then went on to play in college at a Division II school in Missouri, Truman State University. After college, he transitioned into working in the athletics world. His guest has a son who is a junior in high school and has dabbled in travel ball.
The speaker’s mother was a single parent who did her best to raise him, but he did not have a father figure to help him pursue athletics. He found success by creating his own opportunities, such as practicing his pitching and fielding on a porch with a cement wall and throwing against his chimney. He also found father figures in the church who modeled what a man should be. In high school he was not part of any elite travel squads, but his high school coach stuck up for him and he ended up getting a partial scholarship to Truman where he graduated in four years.
Rob went to Truman State University and was a successful college athlete. He was inducted into his high school’s athletic hall of fame and had a successful career with 44 appearances and a school record for starts in a season. Rob enjoyed the structure that baseball and athletics provided in his life, as it gave him something to focus on outside of his studies. Despite having one of the best seasons in program history, Truman still wasn’t over 500, but that didn’t matter to Rob. He went to college to get an education and to play baseball, not to be the most successful baseball player.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00:00 Interview with Rob Simms: From Falling Apart to Falling Into Place
0:03:55 Conversation with Rob Simms: From High School Baseball to a Career in Athletics
0:05:57 Heading: Success in Athletics Without a Father Figure: A Conversation with Former Truman State Baseball Player
0:10:09 Conversation with Rob Simms, Truman State University Alumnus and Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
0:11:53 Conversation on the Emotional Impact of Finishing College Athletics and Academics
0:13:40 Reflecting on the End of a Baseball Career: Rob’s Story
0:15:01 Conversation on Transitioning from Athletics to a Career in Sports Media Relations
0:20:04 Heading: Reflections on First Day at Creighton University
0:22:04 Recalling the Journey from Media Relations to ESPN: A Conversation with Rob Simms
0:23:21 Reflections on Transitioning from Athletics to Nonprofit Fundraising
0:29:19 Conversation with Sports Broadcaster: Reflections on Career Path and Advice for Young People Pursuing Dreams
0:30:29 Conversation on Career Paths and Professional Experiences in Athletics
0:34:31 Interview with Rob Simms: Reflecting on His Storied Collegiate Career and Being Inducted into His High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame
0:38:57 Interview with Rob Simms: Reflections on a Successful Athletic Career and Life Lessons Learned
Interview with Rob Simms: A Story of Resilience and Victory
HIGHLIGHTS
I know that athletic departments allow students so many more opportunities with broadcast, the broadcast world. So I saw the other day too, young people, whether you’re in high school and you’re near a university, whether it’s D1, D2, D3, NAIA, whatever, if you want to have an opportunity or think you may like sports enough, go see what goes on behind the scenes and see.
I feel like March, you understand Toby, the crossover seasons between the end of basketball, the beginning of baseball, softball, it’s an insane time for an athletic department. Like I miss Creighton women’s basketball who I worked with.
But you transition over into nonprofit fundraising. What was the thought process going into that decision? So the thought process was I had been in athletics at Creighton for 11 years.
You also served on the media relations team for the College World Series. For those not familiar, Omaha is ground zero for the College World Series. It’s mecca, it’s people journey to Omaha who have a love for college baseball.