Billy Sims
Sims in 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 20 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | September 18, 1955 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Hooks (Hooks, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Oklahoma (1975–1979) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1980: 1st round, 1st overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Billy Ray Sims (born September 18, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for five seasons with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1984. Sims played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, earning consensus All-American honors twice, and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1978. He was selected by the Lions with first overall pick of the 1980 NFL draft. After three Pro Bowl selections, his career was prematurely ended by a knee injury suffered in 1984.
Sims was the last Oklahoma player taken number one overall in the NFL draft until quarterback Sam Bradford was taken first in the 2010 draft.
Sims was nicknamed "Kung Fu Billy Sims" by ESPN's Chris Berman, following a game between the Lions and the Houston Oilers. In the NFL Films highlight, rather than be tackled during a rushing attempt, Sims ran at, jumped, and, while fully airborne, kicked Oilers cornerback Steve Brown in the head.