MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - February 8, 2007, (Davenport, IA) – The Quad City Steamwheelers announced today that the arenafootball2 league has assigned Davenport native and former Iowa Hawkeye Marques Simmons to the roster as a WR/LB.

“Simmons had a great career at Iowa,” says head coach Sean Ponder. “He was one of the top running backs one of the years that he was there. We are looking for him to play a duel role of running back and receiver. Due to rule changes he has a chance to be very effective for us.”

Simmons joins the Steamwheelers after playing collegiate football for both the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. The Davenport native started his collegiate career at Nebraska where he ran track while redshirting in football in 2001 and tallied 56 rushing yards on 13 attempts in 2002.

In 2003 Simmons took a redshirt year at Iowa after transferring from Nebraska. In 2004 he saw action in six games registering 194 yards and 3 touchdowns on 51 attempts, including a four-yard scoring run to give Iowa a 24-12 lead over LSU in the Capital One Bowl. Simmons’ senior season was hampered by injuries after being listed as a co-first team running back following spring practice.

In high school the Davenport North graduate earned First Team All-State honors and was named to the Des Moines Register Elite All-State squad. He totaled 4,238 yards in his high school career and won state titles in the 100- and 200- meter dash in track and field.