Nimmons trying to live up to family legacy at WSSU

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina --Jack Nimmons chuckles when asked the obvious question about his hall of fame father.

Nimmons, a junior defensive end for Winston-Salem State, says whenever his father, Jonathan “Sly” Nimmons, starts waxing poetic about his playing days with the Rams in the 1980s, the sentences start the same way: “Back when I played ... ”

But that’s OK with Jack Nimmons because he can’t think of a better role model to follow than his father, who is in the Big House Gaines Hall of Fame after being a four-year letterman and an All-CIAA, All-NAIA and All-America player.

“Of course he starts those sentences like that,” Nimmons said.

Nimmons, who is from Reidsville, has worked hard to become a starter for the Rams after beginning his college career at St. Augustine’s. After graduating from Reidsville High School he went to St. Aug’s, where he redshirted but never let his dream of going to WSSU die.

“I always wanted to come to Winston-Salem State,” Nimmons said. “So after the year at St. Aug’s, I took a chance and came here as a walk-on.”

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