When people asked a young Trenton Simpson what his dad did, he often looked to his mom, Dionna Ford, to provide answers. As far as he knew, his dad worked a desk job for the Army.

Then a middle school friend loaned him “Call of Duty,” a military first-person shooter video game.

“They told him, ‘This is what your dad does for a living,’” Ford recalled. “So he came home like, ‘I thought my dad ordered supplies for the military.’”

Timothy Simpson did do something along those lines. He was in charge of logistics for the Army Rangers. As part of Bravo Company, he coordinated transportation and equipment to make sure his fellow soldiers had everything they needed in battles that he also took part in.

However, he and Ford made an agreement early on. They didn’t want to tell young Trenton about the realities of his father’s job and make him worry.

Less than three months after Trenton was born on June 14, 2001, the World Trade Center was attacked. They knew 9/11 made Timothy Simpson’s job that much more important and that much more serious.

“That’s still a difficult question to answer right now,” Timothy Simpson said when asked what it was like balancing the need to be with his young son with the need to defend his country. “... I raised my hand for this nation. And at that point — this ain’t something you can not do.”

And so Trenton grew up by the Army Rangers’ base in Fort Benning (now Fort Moore) and Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia. He played with members of his dad’s company and observed as they trained, but he never truly knew what it meant that his dad was an Army Ranger.

Every six months, his dad would be deployed for 90 days. Over the course of 26 years and 17 tours, Timothy totaled five years, seven months and 25 days overseas in places such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Qatar.

Not knowing the danger his dad faced, Trenton didn’t worry about whether his dad would come home. But he also didn’t understand why it was so important for his dad to go overseas. He said there was a period when he didn’t see his father for two years.

“I didn’t [appreciate it] at the time because I was so young and I didn’t truly know what he was doing and how dangerous it was,” Trenton said. “But I definitely have a lot of respect for him. He’s truly a man of no fear. To go out there in war and it could truly be your last [day], that’s a different type of mentality.”

Trenton Simpson and Ford moved to North Carolina to be closer to family between deployments. But one thing that stayed the same no matter where Trenton and his dad were — their love for football.

After a failed attempt at getting Trenton involved in soccer, Ford gave in and started him in football earlier than planned. He quickly followed in his father’s footsteps as a football star. Timothy Simpson was a standout at R-S Central in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, but his path took him to the military after he got into trouble and had bad grades, he said.

The athleticism didn’t just come from Simpson, though. Ford was a basketball, softball and volleyball star in high school and “can throw it with a nice spiral,” Trenton Simpson said. With Dad gone, it fell on Ford to help Simpson learn the playbook and to take him out to play catch. She coached him in basketball, took him to all his practices and was his biggest fan at games.

Although Trenton played other sports, football was where he found peace. It allowed him to get out his energy and any anger and frustration he had about being without his dad. It provided him with father figures and a brotherhood, he said. And it gave him something to share with his dad from afar.

“I played football because the pride that I had is like, if I played well, my mom always recorded it and I was able to send my highlights overseas to my dad and he could see it,” Trenton said.

But videos couldn’t compare to the real thing.

“It was tough,” Trenton said. “It definitely was. I always wanted my father to be there at practice and my dad to coach me and stuff like that. But that’s just how it panned out. So, when I have kids one day, I definitely want to be involved and be able to coach him because I know how much it would have meant to me at that age.”

Little did he know, in addition to making his father proud, he was giving him a distraction.

“When he called, it definitely helped, I would say. ‘Dad, take a break from this environment,’ since he was over there for war,” Ford said.

Timothy got choked up when thinking about those calls and how they kept him going through all that “I can’t unsee.”

Ford said she always made Timothy Simpson out to be an “untouchable hero” so that Trenton wouldn’t worry, and even after the “Call of Duty” revelation, Trenton still didn’t truly grasp what his dad did.

After years of shorter deployments, Timothy Simpson was stationed for three years in Qatar. And, even when he was home around the deployments, he was based in different states from where Trenton and his mom lived. As he reached high school, Trenton became more aware of his father’s mortality — as well as his own need for his dad.

“My dad was overseas in Qatar, and I was 14, and it was one of those moments in my life where I needed guidance the most,” Trenton said. “I was headed to a big high school. I just wrote him a letter. I wrote him, and I was crying. I was just like, I need guidance. Like, I’ve got a big step ahead, and I want you to come back to America.

“… Around that time, that’s when I started to really understand, like, OK, he’s not promised to come back home, and I need this dude. I need to ask questions. I need a father, a male figure in my life.”

Trenton’s letter was received and his message heard. Timothy Simpson moved from Fort Benning to Fort Liberty (formerly known as Fort Bragg) in North Carolina to be closer to his son. And he never missed a game after that, Trenton said.

Simpson retired from the military in May 2021. Trenton is still learning about what his dad did. He has a lot to catch up on, and he’s been asking a lot of questions — although he’s careful about what he asks.

“My dad will always tell me. I just didn’t want to ask, always, to the full extent or truly want to know the in-depth details about the story,” Trenton said. “But yeah, as I grew up, we talk about it all the time now, because now we know it’s done.”

Timothy Simpson said he’s careful about what he shares. He doesn’t want to burden Trenton with the full extent of what he experienced because he said those ugly memories can “cling to you.” However, they took a trip in 2021, just the two of them, to the 9/11 Memorial, where Timothy said Trenton really started to understand how important it was for him to go.

Now that he’s home, Timothy said, he wants to help Trenton the way Trenton helped him through his darkest times with those phone conversations that gave him a respite from his duties. Already, Trenton has surpassed anything Timothy Simpson could have dreamed.

Trenton took his father’s dreams of playing college ball at Clemson a step further. He was a third-round pick in the NFL draft and is now part of the linebacker rotation for the Ravens. He said he also hears from his father’s fellow Rangers, who text and call him to let him know they’re proud of him and provide encouragement.

“Die-hard Alabama fans or die-hard Steelers fans, they will wear their Trenton Simpson jerseys,” Timothy Simpson said. “There is a following that is beyond proud of him and what he has become.”

Trenton has faced his share of challenges in his young NFL career. He was drafted to a team with the league’s best linebacker duo in Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen and had to learn patience as he essentially “redshirted” his rookie year. After earning a starting job following Queen’s departure, Trenton saw less and less time as the season went on, playing mostly special teams by the end. But the Ravens stated their belief in his future.

“I think he’s a really, really good young player, developmental guy, and I think he’s obviously — like a lot of our young players — they have their ups and downs and their growing pains, but I think his future’s very bright,” general manager Eric DeCosta said. “We’ve seen guys like him have their moments and then end up being really, really good players, and I would expect that. This guy’s a young very athletic [player]. He can run; he’s very explosive; he has a huge care factor, and it’s our job to get that out of him, and I think we will.”

Neither his stats nor his snap count, matter the most to his father. Timothy Simpson said his own proudest moment was not football related. It was seeing Trenton become the first in his family — his grandfather couldn’t read or write — to graduate college. With a 4.0 grade-point average.

Even though his dad’s career made for a difficult childhood, Trenton Simpson said he’s proud to call himself a military kid and it’s important to him to represent those who serve. Whenever his team has a military game, he is always the flag bearer.

“I always want to be the first to carry that flag out because I know how much it means to my father,” Trenton said.

Having completed his second NFL season, Trenton is making his support more than symbolic. He and his mother have been working on a foundation, inspired by their experiences as a military family. They kicked it off with a “Tribute to Troops Tailgate” on Dec. 17. At a silent auction, organized to build resources for their mission, they said their goal was to support kids who “sacrificed a normal childhood” because of their parents’ military careers by offering “life-changing experiences, support and resources” to active and retired military families.

“I know what type of stress it puts on a family, but somebody can make it through that,” Trenton said. “… My goal is just to impact as many families as I can, positively impact them. And just give light and be someone they say, ‘That kid comes from a military background.’ I truly feel like the military, all those soldiers, played a part in raising me.”