“You can imagine, I [was] at the height [of success],” remembers Rob. “And then one call. Boom. It’s done.”

In the months and years that followed, Sims struggled with the void left by his father, who was also a professional football player, known in his playing days as the “Gentle Giant.”

“He was just the best person you would ever meet,” Sims said. “He would take anybody in. He would feed anybody, clothe anybody—anything he could do.”

In His Father’s Memory

He came to realize that the energy he spent grieving could be better used to help others also dealing with loved ones passing—the way his father would have done.

Sims now honors his father by making a difference in his community. Funds raised through an annual golf outing have established a scholarship program at the local community college and supported Cornerstone of Hope — a grief center for children, teens and adults.

Leave Your Mark

Sims reminds others what it means to be a father—creating memories with his wife and children, helping to provide financial security to his family, contributing service to his community—these will last long after a man is gone.

“Everybody’s got a time, everybody has got a day when it’s going to be over,” Sims says. “But you leave your mark, just by being the person you are while you’re here and setting your family up for the future.”