Former Texas A&M linebacker Ed Simonini has passed away at the age of 65, according to the University. He lost his battle with cancer, his family has announced.

Former Aggie head coach R.C. Slocum was an assistant on Emory Bellard's 1972 staff when Siminoni arrived in Aggieland from Las Vegas in 1972.

“I remember well when Ed first showed up at A&M,” Slocum said in a release from the school. “It was the first year that freshman were eligible to play on the varsity. Although he was undersized, he started and was a leader on our defense. He started for four years and got most of the awards one can get including All-American. His junior year we were number two in the nation on defense and his senior year we were the top-ranked defense in the nation. His play and leadership were instrumental in our success. Along with his success on the field, he was a very good student. In all of my years of coaching, Ed stands out as one of the best players that I was ever around. I have been in touch with him through his illness and he was a fighter to the end. He never lost his positive attitude. Ed will be missed by all that knew him.”

Simonini was named a consensus All-American and Lombardi Award finalist in 1975 when the Aggies led the NCAA in rushing defense and total defense and allowed just 9.5 points per game. Simonini led the Aggies in tackles three straight years and was named to the All-Southwest Conference Team in each of those seasons (1973-75). He was the SWC’s Defensive Player of the Year twice and a member of the SWC’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s. He finished his career as the Aggies’ all-time leader tackler with 425 stops and he still owns the school’s freshman tackles record with 98 in 1972.

The term "Wrecking Crew" was coined beginning with the great Aggies' defenses of the mid 1980's but the units that Simonini led established the run of great defensive teams that the Aggies had from a stretch between the mid 1970's and the mid 1990's. The rise of the Aggies in the 1970's was generated by those defensive units that helped put A&M football on the map at a time when the program had struggled to find success for any length of time. The 1974 team had the Aggies' first winning record since 1967. The 1975 team was ranked as high as second in the country and beat Texas at Kyle Field for the first time in eight years. Although Simonini rolled out of the program after 1975, A&M continued to play great defense the following season, going 10-2 and finishing in the top ten in the polls for the first time since 1956.

After being inducted into the Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982, just last week it was announced that he would be a member of the 2019 SEC Football Legends Class.

Simonini is survived by his wife, Karen, and their children, Anna and Nick, and grandson, Storm. Along with Ed’s sister and three brothers.

Simonini earned his degree from Johns Hopkins as well as earning a master’s degree in civil engineering. After his NFL career, he worked for the Hilti Company and was a field engineer in Dallas before becoming sales manager of the Southwest Region of the United States. He then headed operations in Latin America for the company.

The family will announce a celebration of Ed’s life to be held in Dallas soon. In lieu of flowers any donations could be made in Ed’s honor to the American Cancer Society.