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UMass senior Anthony Simpson, a successful wide receiver proud of his Connecticut roots
Aug 23, 2024
Bloomfield’s Anthony Simpson is entering his final season as a wide receiver for the UMass football team. He started all 12 games for the Minutemen a year ago and finished with 57 receptions for 792 yards and three touchdowns.
Bloomfield’s Anthony Simpson is entering his final season as a wide receiver for the UMass football team. He started all 12 games for the Minutemen a year ago and finished with 57 receptions for 792 yards and three touchdowns. Photo courtesy of UMass Athletics / Thomas Kendall
AMHERST, Mass. —You can take Anthony Simpson out of Bloomfield, but you can’t take the Warhawk out of Anthony Simpson.
The UMass football team’s senior wide receiver and Bloomfield High graduate is hometown proud, particularly in the last year with the Warhawks winning their 10th CIAC football championship by beating Cromwell-Portland in the Class S final in December followed by the induction of Bloomfield native Dwight Freeney into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this month.
“It’s a blessing just to see it all,” Simpson said. “I’m still a kid with dreams and to see someone from my community reach his dream of going to the NFL and become a Hall of Fame player like Dwight Freeney’s done, it’s inspiring and it shows you what’s possible.
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“And Bloomfield winning championships? That’s just something we’re accustomed to. We’re winners.”
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That’s how Simpson (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) would like to go out in his second and final season at UMass since transferring from Arizona.
He started all 12 games for the Minutemen (3-9) a year ago and finished with 57 receptions for 792 yards and three touchdowns. He had four 100-yard games receiving including a career-best 140 yards against Toledo on Oct. 7 and 107 yards against UConn in the season finale on Nov. 25. He added 93 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushing attempts. He was named to the Phil Steele All-Independent first team and was the College Football Network All-Independent wide receiver of the year.
“Last year, we connected on some good plays,” UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh said. “That momentum is going to carry over to this year. We’ve been growing and getting better. We’ll see in a couple of weeks how it goes.”
UMass averaged 23.1 points per game a season ago. In the offseason, third-year coach Don Brown brought in veteran Shane Montgomery as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Montgomery spent 2023 as a senior offensive analyst at East Carolina.
Simpson played mostly as a slot receiver as a junior but is expected to be more on the outside as a senior.
“It’s so good to come out here and learn with Coach Montgomery and allow him to guide us through what we need to do to become a good offensive team,” Simpson said. “He uses his pieces and puts us in the best position to succeed. This year, we’re real explosive and composed and I feel like we’re going to be better than last year. My second year here I’ve been able to jell and settle in.”
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Simpson helped lead Bloomfield High to the Class S championship in 2018. As a senior the next year, he totaled almost 2,500 yards receiving and rushing — reaching the 1,000-yard plateau in both in a Class S quarterfinal win over Stafford — and scored 45 touchdowns.
He spent a prep year at Trinity-Pawling in New York to strengthen his academic case and while there accepted his only FCS scholarship offer from Arizona where Brown was the defensive coordinator. He played in 20 games in the two seasons for the Wildcats with four starts, doing most of his work on special teams. He entered the transfer portal in December of 2022 and took Brown, who had just finished his first season at UMass, up on his scholarship offer a week later.
In his first year at UMass he was one of the best players. Now he needs to be a leader for the Minutemen.
“My role is changed because I am older,” Simpson said. “They trust me, they trust me to lead, they trust me to be consistent, they trust me to come out here every day and give it my all. When I do that my teammates see it and they can follow and give their all. We’re united and became one.”
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UMass’ last winning season came in 2010 when it was a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. This will be the Minutemen’s final season as an independent as they join the Mid-American Conference as a full member on July 1, 2025. The UMass football team was a MAC affiliate member from 2012-15.
The Minutemen open the 2024 campaign here against Eastern Michigan on Aug. 31, the first of five MAC teams on the slate. Their schedule includes three games against Southeastern Conference schools — versus Missouri at McGuirk Alumni Stadium here on Oct. 12, at Mississippi State on Nov. 2, and at No. 1 Georgia Nov. 23. They will entertain Central Connecticut State on Sept. 21 and close the regular season at home against UConn on Nov. 30.
“We played a couple of good games, a couple good quarters last year,” Simpson said. “But we didn’t have that one game where we played all four quarters. I feel this year we’re going to put together multiple games like that when we put four quarters together and the end result will be wins.”
“My goal is to win as many games in a UMass jersey as possible before I try to go to the NFL.”
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Since graduating from Bloomfield High, Simpson said he’s matured and grown up and is taking the game of football more serious.
But once a Warhawk, always a Warhawk.
“Just being so close to Connecticut, anytime I step out here I’m doing it for my city,” Simpson said. “I hope everyone and come out and support us and watch the games. I feel like I’m doing it for my
