Trenton Simpson was born on June 14, the Army's birthday, his father points out. It was quite appropriate.
When he was just weeks old, Trenton joined his first formation with his father, a U.S. Army Ranger in the elite 75th Regiment. In front of more than 100 soldiers at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., a sergeant held Simpson up like he was Simba from Lion King.
"This is our son of Bravo Company," the sergeant said. "He's going to have a great life, and he's going to represent us all."
Command Sergeant Major Timothy D. Simpson served his country for more than 26 years with 17 overseas tours. If Trenton weren't such a good football player, he probably would have served, too.
Instead, Trenton represents Bravo Company by wrestling down running backs and barreling over blockers as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens.
But Trenton may have never reached this point without learning the lesson of sacrifice. It's the imprint of the Army, passed down through generations.
"His job came with a lot of sacrifice — going overseas and fighting for our country," Trenton said. "But the things he got from the Army, he's able to give to me now."
Growing up on and around military bases, first in Georgia and then North Carolina, Trenton didn't have his father around as much as he wanted. As Trenton got older, Timothy pushed his son to make different sacrifices than his own, but sacrifices nonetheless.
At the top of the list is that the work never stops. Timothy had a retirement ceremony in May 2021, presided over by a four-star general and full of letters of appreciation, including one from then-President Joe Biden. But Timothy is adamant that he's not fully retired from the military.
"I'm not going to retire because I want to show Trenton that I'm 51 years old and I still got an alarm clock set," Timothy said. "What's your excuse? You continue to get up and try to be great every day."
How Do You Tell a Kid You Can't Come Home?
There are three Ranger Battalions – the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 3rd is located in Fort Benning. Walk in there and you see all the photos of service members killed in action.
"They're the company that has been called the most to do the most dangerous stuff," Timothy said, pointing out its role in the famous "Black Hawk Down" incident of 1993. Those are the guys who Timothy learned from.
But before his baby boy was held up in front of all those soldiers in Bravo Company, Timothy hadn't really thought about dying. He had been so focused on his training, trying to be his best, wondering whether it would pay off in service of his nation.
A few months after Trenton was born, Sept. 11 happened, and the call came. In charge of logistics to make sure the Rangers had everything they needed in the fights of their lives, Timothy pushed Rangers off airplanes, then jumped himself.
But war is ugly, and about a year into it, after one of his brothers had just fallen in battle, Timothy flew in the back of a helicopter over Afghanistan, thinking about Trenton.
"I just think, 'I want to live,'" Timothy said. "Now, I really appreciate life."
The Rangers do 120-day deployments, missions every day. They get cycled off the battlefield for three months of physical and mental recovery, then ramp their training back up and are sent back into the fray.
When he was stateside, Trenton came on the base so Timothy could not only care for the soldiers he commanded, but also his own son of Bravo Company. His parents made him little Army fatigues that he proudly strutted in around the base.
"You would think he was he was Sergeant Simpson," Timothy said with a laugh, "cause he would he would lay into people, tell people do push-ups."
As joyful as it was to watch his son grow up, Timothy had to go back to war – a stint in Saudi Arabia in 2002, Afghanistan in 2003, Iraq a handful of times from 2004-08, then back to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2013. He had 84 months – seven years – of overseas service.
During that time, Trenton was growing up to be a fierce football player like his father, a former star running back and linebacker for R-S Central High in Rutherfordton, N.C. Trenton liked hitting people.
While his father was away, the two would message over Facebook and talk about the NFL or NBA, or about the Kobe sneakers Trenton liked. Timothy always tried to keep the conversation light and positive. He knew his boy was hurting.
"I'd tell him I was going to send him a pair of Kobes," Timothy said. "One time he said, 'I don't want the shoes anymore, I just want you to come home.' How do you tell a kid you can't come home?"
In 2016, when he was 15 years old, Trenton sent his father a lengthy email. He was now a freshman in high school, on his way to becoming one of the nation's top football recruits. Trenton poured his heart out, telling his father he needed him home – for good.
"At that point, I knew I was done being great for this nation," Timothy said, choking up with emotion.
When he got back home, Timothy pursued a job at Fort Bragg that would keep him off the battlefield. When he was selected, he told Trenton he'd never miss anything he wanted him to be at again.
He was at Trenton's college games at Clemson, including joining him on the field to be honored side by side during a military appreciation game. Heading into Trenton's junior season, Timothy started training his son.
Trenton was largely raised by his mother, Dionna Ford, but with more time together, Trenton and Timothy have grown much closer.
"I've learned you give the time to what matters to you," Trenton said. "And I think this offseason, that's a relationship I wanted to always bridge in my life because he's done so many great things. Every time I go on the base, I hear great things about my dad."
At his father's retirement ceremony, Trenton was able to better understand his father's sacrifice, hearing what he meant to so many people.
"The courage it takes to go in the war and be the guy to lead people to say, 'If you follow me, you'll live,' — like, that's serious," Trenton said. "When they were telling those type of stories it's like, this man is a great leader."
During the ceremony, Timothy was given an American flag. So many loved ones are handed the flag after it comes home over a coffin. Timothy was fortunate to hand it to his son himself.
"I got a lot of Ranger brothers that didn't get the opportunity to see their kids continue to grow and watch what I get to watch," Timothy said. "I'm still dealing with what I have now and what others don't."
Burn the Ship
Trenton drives down to Fort Bragg in North Carolina every offseason. As Timothy says, Trenton "owes" him at least three months of solid workouts.
The 75th Ranger Regiment is the premier light-infantry and special action force. They are a rapid response unit, dropped into the most dangerous places and situations around the globe. Essentially, they're the guys you see in the commercials doing all the badass stuff.
In order to be in peak physical condition required for the job, they developed a program called "Ranger Athlete Warrior." It's the same training program that Timothy puts Trenton through every summer on Fort Bragg, starting at the same time as troops assemble for morning formation, 5:30 a.m.
This past summer, they had a motto. Trenton was entering his fourth NFL season – a contract year. He had lost his grasp on a starting linebacker spot in Baltimore's defense the previous two seasons, and he was determined to keep a strangle hold on it this season.
Burn the ship.
It's a reference tracing back to Spanish conquests of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century, when commanders would order their own ships to be burned upon their arrival so their men had no choice but to fight.
"We're going to fully commit to right now, because there's no going back," Timothy said.
Trenton doubled down on his physical training. He did 50-, 70-, 100-yard sled pulls on a bank opposite his dad's place. He did sets of 10 of everything and anything – box jumps, front squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, etc. Over, and over, and over.
"You take a person to a point where they feel like they can't go anymore. And then, when he thinks he can't go anymore, I tell him, 'Hey, don't worry about it, I'll do it.' That gets him going," Timothy said.
"If you want something, you asked me for something, I'm going to help you get there. He knows it works, but it ain't easy. So when it's time for him to go back to Baltimore, there's been many times that we are not talking anymore."
Trenton's talking with his pads this season. He's made some blockers and ball carriers look like bugs on a Humvee's windshield.
"I want guys to fear me," Trenton said. "I came into this season like dudes gotta know I'm out there this year — 32 is everywhere on that field."
But Trenton has been built like a G.I. Joe since he entered the NFL and hasn't always gotten the results. What changed this year went beyond making a physical sacrifice.
Last year, Trenton had plenty of talks with Ravens Inside Linebackers Coach Tyler Santucci about what it was going to take for him to realize the potential the Ravens saw when they drafted him out of Clemson in the third round in 2023.
This offseason, Trenton dove more into the film study with Roquan Smith and Santucci, who launched "Linebacker School" with his linebacker room. In-season, they meet at 6 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays to go through the game plan and study opponents in more detail, looking for an edge on the field.
Trenton went all-in, and he saw the results. It started last season when he was thrust back into the starting lineup with Smith injured and logged 10 tackles and a sack. It carried into this summer, and now the regular season.
"It is really hard to be a really good football player in the NFL," Santucci said. "There's an amount of work, there's sacrifice that goes into that, the preparation within a week. He's worked to be able to play confidently and freely. You can't just do that because you say you do it. It takes work to really play that way."
As Head Coach Jesse Minter said earlier this season, Trenton has been one of the Ravens' best defenders. He has 51 tackles, a sack, five tackles for loss, and an interception. He's playing faster because he knows what's coming.
"Those six o'clock meetings have changed my career," Trenton said. "This game is 90% mental, 10% physical. We're all athletic. But once you master the mental part, that's why I feel like I'm playing untouchable."
Trenton was in the right place at the right time when he got his first career interception in the Ravens' Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans. The night before, he had dreamt that he was going to get his first career pick, and sure enough, he made it happen. What made the moment even more special was the fact that his father was in the stands.
"We always talked about if he gets an interception, I'm probably going to get kicked out of the game because I'll be on the field celebrating with him," Timothy said with a laugh.
Timothy stays at Trenton's place when he comes up for games and makes him a protein-rich breakfast in the morning before the game. After the win over the Titans, when they got back to Trenton's place, Trenton tossed his dad the interception ball.
"Once I caught the pick, the first person I thought of was giving the ball to my dad," Trenton said. "It meant the world to me. That's all I wanted as a kid – I wanted my dad there.
"It's tough growing up without your father being overseas. But credit to my mom. My mom raised me very well and having both of my parents on one accord, making so many things happen for me through my life to make it to the NFL. Now I just want to pay them back. 'It's on me. Y'all go relax, just watch me ball out.' That's my plan."
Timothy will be there Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium as the Ravens take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. It's the Ravens' Salute to Service game, and he'll be sitting with one of his old military buddies, proudly watching his son's hard work pay off.
"There's only one man that wants you to be greater than him, and that's your dad," Timothy said. "So I just try to make him better than me. He's a really good kid – young man. A lot of it, you know, I believe he's just born with it."
He was, after all, born the son of Bravo Company.
