Quarterback Ty Simpson celebrated his parents, Jason and Julie, before his first round selection at the 2026 NFL Draft surprised the football world.
“They’re my rock. I couldn’t ask them for anything else,” Simpson, 23, exclusively told Us Weekly on the red carpet at the Draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, April 23. “It’s something that we’re going to cherish forever.”
He added, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s something we’re going to tell our kids’ kids one day.”
Simpson, projected by most to be a late first-round selection, was taken by the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 13 overall pick.
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“I’m super pumped, super blessed,” Simpson told Bleacher Report after being drafted. “To play for an organization like the Rams, to be under coach Sean McVay and learn from Matthew [Stafford], it’s everything I could ask for. I’m super pumped and I can’t wait to get out there.”
Simpson said getting drafted by the Rams was “absolutely” his best case scenario.
“I felt like that throughout the draft process, I could go anywhere from 4 to 42,” he continued. “It’s just something that I knew coming in. When that L.A. number called, I was super pumped … I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. I’m ready to get started.”
In discussing some of the “negative” evaluations about him heading into the Draft, Simpson said that he likes “to play with a chip on my shoulder.”
“I always keep receipts,” he explained. “I always remember everything that everybody says. It’s something that I did at [the University of] Alabama. The fact that I can go out here and play is something that I’m looking forward to … Don’t be a fan later, because it will be too late.”
Simpson is now the presumed heir apparent to Stafford, 38, who is widely expected to retire after the 2026 season.
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Rams head coach McVay, 40, said Stafford had a “great” reaction to the news that the Rams were drafting Simpson.
“I mean, he’s always first-class in every sense of the word,” McVay said in a press conference on Thursday.
During a press conference following his selection on Sunday, Simpson said he hasn’t met Stafford, but is “super pumped to just be a part of a room with him and to learn from him.”
“He’s one of the greatest of all time, quarterback wise,” Simpson said of Stafford. “We watched his film all the time when I was at Bama.”
