Jeffery Simmons enlists new Titans to help raise nearly $500,000 for cancer research

Jeffery Simmons didn't make an impassioned speech or an elaborate sales pitch. All he did was drop a message in the Tennessee Titans' teamwork app and wait.

Simmons served as the honorary chair for the ninth annual Rally On the Runway charity event Thursday night, bringing seven of his Titans teammates with him to escort childhood cancer patients and survivors on the runway as they strut their best moves and show off their fashion sense to an adoring crowd.

This was Simmons' first year as honorary chair, taking over a role previously held by Kevin Byard and Jurrell Casey, and he didn't have the luxury of being able to enlist all that many familiar faces in the locker room for help. Five of the seven teammates he had on hand Thursday weren't Titans this time last year. One of them, quarterback Mason Rudolph, has been with the team barely a month.

But that doesn't mean the guys didn't show up for Simmons, and more importantly, for the kids.

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"It’s not just about showing. It’s holding everyone accountable by being vocal in the locker room, on the field," Simmons says. "As you see now, you’ve got guys here. That’s what you want in your locker room. You want guys willing to do whatever it takes, not just for the game of football but it’s also about that bond off the field as well."

Simmons, Rudolph, running back Julius Chestnut, defensive tackle Keondre Coburn, linebackers JoJo Domann and Rashad Weaver, and cornerbacks Tay Gowan and Anthony Kendall attended the event, which raised $479,229 for childhood cancer research and treatment.

Rudolph, who been in Nashville only two weeks, jokes that he told Simmons he didn't have an excuse not to go, because he's single, childless and new in town. The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was the second player to hit the runway, walking hand-in-hand with a young patient named Haydin, who's fighting solid tumor cancer.

Simmons walked the runway twice, first with Brayden, a young brain cancer patient, and later with Greenleigh, a blood cancer patient who chewed up her time on the stage like a pro. Simmons said he had a conversation with Brayden before the event about nervousness, in which Brayden confided that he was a little nervous about walking the stage.

"I said, ‘I get a little nervous, too, when I get ready to go on the field,’ " Simmons said. "That’s just the great feeling of it. Being able to see how much they actually enjoy it."

When they finally made it to the runway together, Simmons and Brayden executed a well-rehearsed and elaborate handshake punctuated by a double dab, then Brayden hustled up to the front of the stage, where he floss-danced as Simmons pumped up the crowd.

Just as he says he's trying to do with his new teammates, Simmons encouraged Brayden and let him do the rest.

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jeffery Simmons, Titans help raise nearly $500,000 for cancer research