Damian Sims

As a freshman in 2004, Sims played in seven games with his debut coming against Ohio State.[2] Against Purdue, Sims completed a pass to teammate Drew Tate in the first pass attempt of his career.[2] Sims had one kickoff return for 37 yards in the Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin and then a three-yard kickoff return against LSU in the Capital One Bowl.[2] He recorded 17 rushing attempts for 45 yards and added two pass receptions for a yard in the season.[2]

Sims saw action in 12 of Iowa's 13 games in 2005, and started off playing cornerback before switching back to running back.[2] He played cornerback against Ball State recording three tackles, and then switched back to running back against Northern Iowa.[2] In his return he totaled 40 yards on two rushing attempts.[2] Against Illinois he had six rushing attempts for 81 yards.[2] 66 of his 81 yards came on a touchdown run late in the game.[2] He rushed for a career best 104 yards in the Minnesota game, including a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.[2] In the Outback Bowl against Florida he recorded six yards on four rushes and had 12 yards on one pass catch.[2] Sims added 107 kickoff return yards on five attempts including a team season-high 47-yard return in the Florida game.[2]

Sims started 2006, with seven rushes for 39 yards against Montana and then 10 rushes for 51 yards along with an 11-yard reception against Syracuse.[3] He rushed 15 times for 55 yards against Illinois and scored his first touchdown of the season in the game.[3] Sims' first career college start came against Purdue where he had 20 rushes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.[3] His second start of the season came against Indiana where he ran 22 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns.[3] In the Alamo Bowl against Texas he ran for 26 yards on 12 rushes.[3]

Following spring practice in 2007, Sims' senior season he was listed as the second running back on the depth chart.[3] His third career 100 rushing yards in a game came against Northern Illinois when he ran for 110 yards on 16 carries.[3] He led the rushing attack against Syracuse with 12 rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown.[3] In the Michigan State game, Sims ran for a season best 30-yard run and totaled 35 yards on three carries for the game.[3]

After his career at Iowa, Sims entered the 2007 NFL Draft. At the NFL Combine, Sims ran a 4.47 forty yard dash.[4] However, he went undrafted and returned to Iowa to finish his degree and care for his daughter.[5] In 2009, Sims' uncle BC Lions defensive back Korey Banks told Lions player personnel director Roy Shivers about his nephew and gave him a tape of Sims.[5] Impressed, Shivers invited Sims to tryout and Sims ran a 4.4 forty yard dash, which was seven hundredths of a second faster than he ran nearly two years earlier.[5] Sims was officially signed by the Lions in late April 2009.[2] Sims was reportedly one of the leading contenders to replace Stefan Logan at running back with his main competition being Martell Mallett.[1][6] He was released at the end of training camp on June 24, 2009.[7]