June 15, 2004

Funeral Services Set For Former Northern Illinois Football Standout Reggie Sims On Friday

DeKALB, IL --- Funeral services for Reggie Sims, the starting tight end on the 1983 Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame football team that went 10-2 and won the California Bowl, are set for Friday (June 18).

Visitation is scheduled at 9 a.m. (CDT), followed by the memorial service at 1 p.m. Friday at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 East Roosevelt Road in Wheaton. The funeral home is located one block east of Naperville Road. Interment will be at St. Michael Cemetery in Wheaton.

The 41-year-old Sims died unexpectedly Saturday (June 12) at his home in Oswego.

One of 19 professional players ultimately produced by that 1983 Mid-American Conference championship team, Sims earned four letters at Northern Illinois (1981-84) under head coaches Bill Mallory and Lee Corso. Listed as a 6-foot-3, 218-pound tight end in his senior year, Sims led the Huskies in receiving back-to-back seasons with 27 catches for 279 yards and one touchdown in 1983 and 39 grabs for 475 yards and one TD in 1984, plus made Honorable Mention All-MAC as a junior. In 1987, he was a “replacement” player for the National Football League Cincinnati Bengals.

“What a shock,” Mallory said from his home in Bloomington, IN, upon hearing the news. “Reggie was a good football player, a good person, and a good worker. He was the complete tight end. He could catch, run, and block. Back when we recruited him, I knew we got a good one. He was a real, fine person. A good young man. This is hard to believe.”

Current Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak, the defensive coordinator on that storied 1983 club, agreed.

“In my opinion, Reggie was a class individual. He was a young man who wanted to achieve. He wanted an education and he loved his football. Football was important to Reggie and he received an education because of the game. He always represented the program and the university with class and dignity. On the field, he always was one of the good attitude guys.”

Some of his former Huskie teammates remembered Sims’ sense of humor.

“The biggest thing was that Reggie was the funniest guy on the team,” recalled ex-Northern Illinois quarterback Tim Tyrrell, the recipient of the Vern Smith Award as the MAC’s most valuable player in 1983. “He could make me laugh instantly. I would get the biggest kick out of him. He did a great imitation of coach Mallory. That said, you have to understand that like myself, next to our parents, the most inspirational person in our lives was coach Mallory.

“He was a hard-worker, an overachiever like all of us on that team. Reggie was a great tight end and I probably should’ve got him the ball more. He was kind-hearted, funny. He brought our team a lot of light.”

First-Team All-MAC and Honorable Mention Associated Press All-America cornerback Jeff “Sandman” Sanders said Sims kept the Huskies going in tough times.

“Reggie was more than a good tight end,” Sanders said. “He was an inspiration to all his teammates. He was one of the guys who kept us laughing all the time. In hard times, during two-a-days, Reggie would say something or do something funny. Those are the times you need something or someone to keep your spirit going. He was funny, a great guy. I’m so sad. You cannot put it into words.”

Neither could another former Northern Illinois teammate, wide receiver Curt Pardridge. “Oh, Reggie, my man. It’s really unbelievable that he’s gone. Big, strong, great receiver, athletic. He was a lot of fun. Always joking around. That’s amazing, it’s terrible that he’s gone. I can’t believe it.”

Voted on the All-Time Huskie Stadium Team in 1994, Sims made four receptions for 43 yards in NIU’s 20-13 victory over Cal State Fullerton in Cal Bowl III in Fresno, CA. During his Northern Illinois career, No. 88 caught 72 passes for 848 yards (11.8-yards-per-catch average) and two TDs. Sims notched a career-best six catches versus Central Michigan in 1983 and against Eastern Michigan in 1984. In the season-opening 37-34 victory at Kansas in 1983, Sims pulled in three passes for 25 yards---including an 11-yard TD reception. He started 32 times for the Huskies---nine times as a soph, 12 as a junior, and 11 as a senior. After his final season, Sims was the recipient of the team’s “Unsung Hero Award” (1984). His 39 catches represented the most by a Northern Illinois tight end since Bob Stark (58) in 1965.

In 1984, Sims was inducted onto the Rockford West High School “Wall of Fame” with his younger brother Vernon Sims who also played on the 1983 NIU Cal Bowl unit as a freshman. As a senior on the gridiron, he was selected First-Team All-Big Nine Conference, All-Area, All-State, and Honorable Mention All-America. Sims made 34 receptions for 460 yards on the 1980 Big Nine co-champions and State Class 5A playoff semi-finalists under head coach Tom Schwalbach.

Sims is survived by his wife Linda and two stepchildren, six brothers, and three sisters. He was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers. Donations can be made on his behalf to the United Way, P. O. Box 5317, Oak Brook, IL 60522.

(For further information, please contact Mike Korcek) -NIU-