SAN JOSE, Calif. — Second-year Panthers tight end Scott Simonson thrives off the underestimation. He loves it. Needs it.
Simonson, the first Assumption College graduate to ever play in the NFL, was in the third grade when his 1-year-old sister, Shannon, was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia, a rare disease that viciously attacks the body and often causes death before adulthood without a bone marrow transplant.
But through tests, doctors recognized Simonson was a perfect match.
“(The transplant) was a success,” Simonson said. “Her body accepted the bone marrow, and she was released from the hospital about a month after the transplant.