Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

When learning of his 2008 College Football Hall of Fame selection, Ron Simmons could have responded with his World Wrestling Entertainment catchphrase of "Damn!"

Instead, he wanted to use some other spicy language. When first contacted last month by the National Football Foundation, a disbelieving Simmons almost hung up the telephone.

"I was like, 'It's too early in the morning and I don't have time for these games,' " Simmons said. "I let the guy talk, but I didn't think it was true. But when I saw a package on the door a few days later that said 'NFF,' I was thinking, 'Wait a minute ...'

"There was a football inside with my name on it and a letter of congratulations. Then I could believe it."

Simmons was a star nose tackle at Florida State from 1977-80. He still holds two school records (tackles for loss and forced fumbles) and was FSU's first defensive player to have his jersey retired.

The 6-foot, 235-pound Simmons reached such heights despite being grossly undersized for his position.

"Most of the guys outweighed me by 50 pounds and were 4 inches taller," said Simmons, whose induction ceremony will be held in December. "My strength and quickness became my biggest assets as well as studying film to know the players I was going against."

Simmons brought the same intensity into pro wrestling after a short-lived pro-football career. One of his biggest accomplishments was becoming the first black world champion for a major promotion. Simmons defeated Leon "Vader" White to win World Championship Wrestling's title in 1992.

Simmons said he will never forget his peers' post-match reaction when returning to the locker room.

"Guys that had been there for me and helped me coming into the wrestling business had tears in their eyes after seeing something so monumental," said Simmons, who held the strap for five months. "Even I wasn't fully aware at that point about the magnitude of what had happened. To see their faces said it all to me."

Simmons experienced even greater fame after joining the WWE in 1996. He led the Nation of Domination -- which became a vehicle to stardom for member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- and then formed the long-running Acolyte Protection Agency tag team with John Bradshaw Layfield.

The duo's chemistry -- combined with their roughhouse in-ring approach -- helped Simmons and Layfield click both in and out of the ring.

"We had similar backgrounds when it came to (college) football and we enjoy doing a lot of the same things," said Simmons, referring to Layfield's playing days at Abilene Christian in Texas. "He likes the outdoors, hunting and Western wear. I guess you could say we were brothers from another mother."

Simmons retired from active competition in 2004 but returned to the WWE two years later, making cameos in wacky skits that usually ended with his use of the word, "Damn!" Simmons said the gimmick stemmed from his expression backstage when watching "younger guys do something in the ring that was really crazy where they could be injuring themselves."

"Every day you step out in the world, you see something stupid and say, 'Damn!' " Simmons said. "Everybody can relate to that."

Simmons, though, almost lost what he considers a dream job. He began to suffer from some of the same personal problems that afflicted other wrestlers from his heyday.

Following the murder/suicide of Chris Benoit and his family (the one-year anniversary is Tuesday), the WWE began offering to pay expenses for any current or former employee who wanted to attend a rehabilitation program. Simmons enrolled earlier this year and returned to WWE television last month following its completion.

Simmons is especially thankful to the McMahon family, which owns the WWE, for sticking with him through a difficult time.

"They've been supportive in every way," Simmons said. "If you have problems, you can ask for help and get it. That's been unheard of in this industry. Although they've been ridiculed in the press with some of the tragedies that have happened, I promise you that the McMahon family would do everything within their power to have prevented them from happening."

Besides his recurring role on "Monday Night Raw" (9 p.m. EDT, USA Network), Simmons makes public and charity appearances as a WWE representative. He also is planning to launch an undisclosed business venture with his wife, Lottie.

Simmons, though, doesn't consider himself fully retired from wrestling action and said he would consider returning part-time under the right circumstances.

"I had back problems and some other injuries and was trying to give my body a rest," he said. "I'm 49 and you've had guys wrestling until their late 50s. I could still go back and do it, but I'm not going to be flying off the top of the building or anything like that."

Besides, Simmons already is on top of the world from his College Football Hall of Fame selection.

"I've gotten a lot of awards in my lifetime," Simmons said. "But I think this one says it all."

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com.)