Column: Catching up with Brett Simpson before Hall of Fame induction

I went to Sugar Shack the other day to interview Brett Simpson about his upcoming induction into Huntington Surf & Sport’s Surfing Hall of Fame, and was hit by one of life’s bizarre ironies, something you just can’t make up.

In fact, it didn’t even hit me until after Brett and I finished our late-morning breakfast at the popular downtown Huntington Beach diner.

Here we are, Brett and I, chatting about his surfing life, and everything that led him to the honor of placing his handprints and footprints in cement in front of HSS during an induction ceremony on Aug. 3. But it wasn’t until afterwards that I connected the dots, realizing that our server was himself already a Hall of Famer.

Our waiter was Ryan Turner, who was inducted in 2016. Ryan and his brother, Timmy, also a Hall of Famer (Class of 2014), help run their mom Michelle’s restaurant on Main Street. Looking back, I’m surprised Michelle didn’t send Kelly Slater out to refresh our coffee.

Nevertheless, Simpson is excited about his induction, along with Ben Aipa and Herbie Fletcher, and his opportunity to put his mark in cement, though he hasn’t yet come up with the message he’ll write to accompany his hand and footprints.

How to encapsulate all his feelings, all of his thoughts of gratitude to those who helped him along the way? It wasn’t something he was totally expecting, at least not now.

“About six months ago, I got a little slip in the mail, a really cool letter from [HSS owner] Aaron [Pai],” said Simpson, 33. “I read it a few times to make sure, ‘Am I reading this thing right?’ Every year there are amazing people being inducted. And this year too with Ben Aipa and Herbie Fletcher. Those guys have paved the way for us. For me, I’m obviously still pretty young, it’s a lot of things that culminated over time. It’s such an honor.”

Simpson is a 2003 graduate of Huntington Beach High, a two-time U.S. Open of Surfing winner (2009 and 2010) and someone who spent six seasons on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour (2010-15).

Now, he’s making his mark as a surfing ambassador for Huntington Beach and for his sponsor Hurley, for whom he helps run the popular Hurley Surf Club. Getting that little note from Pai helped him reflect on the years gone by.

“There are so many people that helped me along the way,” Simpson said. “[Huntington Beach High coach Andy] Verdone, growing up having idols like the Defenbaughs, Barry and Jeff, obviously Bud Llamas started the path, Wyatt Simmons. These are guys from a competitive aspect, because that was my dream from the get-go, competition, making heats. Those guys I watched growing up, Timmy Reyes, Shaun Ward, Danny Nichols, the Turner brothers, the Townends. The whole path was set, the competitive nature that was in this area, not in a bad way, in a good way. Obviously everyone wants to win and they were battling, and that’s how I felt my surfing was starting to take off.”

Humble beginnings

Simpson grew up in Garden Grove with his parents, brother and two sisters. His dad Bill played in the NFL for eight seasons, five with the Los Angeles Rams and three with the Buffalo Bills. The elder Simpson currently holds the NFL record for playoff interceptions with nine, sharing the mark with Ronnie Lott, Charlie Waters and Ed Reed.

Jason also played football all through high school and was the punter for Fresno State for three years.

Brett, though, never played tackle football (only flag), but was active playing baseball and basketball, obviously inheriting those athletic genes from his dad.

When he was 12, Simpson asked for and got his first surfboard for Christmas.

“My neighbor surfed, we went down to Seal [Beach] and it was so hard,” Simpson remembered. “I was thinking, ‘It can’t be this hard.’ I remember forever I could only go frontside, I could not go backside. But it was addicting, and it was like, ‘I’m going to get this.’ I was hooked.”

Bill, though, could not be that dad that also coaches his son, at least not with surfing. The only time Bill surfed came when he was in Hawaii for the NFL’s Pro Bowl and he was able to get up on a few waves in Waikiki.

“It took my dad a while to get over the fact it wasn’t a ball sport,” Simpson said. “It was all very new, and I think he was a little bit skeptical for a while. But he saw the passion and the drive and the love I had for it. At first, he didn’t understand it was a sport and people were making careers out of it. But he let his guard down a little bit and allowed me to do what I love.”

Simpson spent his first two years of high school at Pacifica in Garden Grove before transferring to Huntington Beach, allowing his surfing to go into overdrive.

“My junior and senior years going to Huntington I got more serious,” he said. “This is my passion this is what I want to try to make happen. I was playing a lot of baseball, playing other sports, and I still love it, I’m a sports fanatic. But I don’t know, surfing just kind of took my heart.

“Obviously, going to Huntington High just opened the door for me, working with coach Verdone and being able to compete on a regular basis outside of the NSSA and USSF, and who [Verdone] has had come through the program. More structure, surfing every morning and after school, too, I feel like my surfing was improving every day.”

Big time

Simpson’s surfing continued to improve, and it was never more evident than in 2009, just six years after finishing high school. Simpson won the U.S. Open, beating Australian Mick Fanning in the final. And then just to show that it wasn’t a fluke, Simpson won it again in 2010, beating South African Jordy Smith in the final.

“To me it’s still pretty stunning,” Simpson said. “When I was growing up, I’d watch that contest from sun-up to sun-down. Every guy, idols, underground guys, local guys, and I pretty much knew everyone. I was so into it. People get hemming and hawing about the waves [being bad], but it has so much history, going back to [Tom] Curren and Occhy [Mark Occhilupo]. I never dreamt of winning, but I just wanted to do good.”

No other men’s surfer has won back-to-back U.S. Open titles, though both Curren and Occhilupo won back-to-back crowns when the event was called the OP Pro. Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi, currently on the WSL’s CT, has a chance to pull it off at this year’s U.S. Open, having won it last year.

On tour, off tour and into new role

Besides winning the U.S. Open in 2010, Simpson also qualified for his first year on the CT. His best result that season came at the Quiksilver Pro France, where he reached the semifinals, placing equal-third.

His best overall season on the CT came the following year in 2011 when he finished the year ranked No. 19 in the world. That year he had three equal-fifth place finishes.

In 2015, Simpson reached the semifinals at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, finishing equal-third in a CT contest for the second time in his career. However, Simpson finished 29th overall that year and fell off the CT.

He spent the next couple years competing in selected Qualifying Series events, trying to find the magic and get back on tour, but it never happened.

“Every spot I went, I enjoyed it, I had a great trip,” he said. “But my heart, competitively, it was just a little bit different. I was still hungry but not necessarily what I needed it to be to get back there.

“I’m glad it worked out how it did because, in hindsight, I was kind of butting my head against the wall. I wanted to be there but it’s not just going to happen. You have to sacrifice and the sacrifices I felt I had to make, I wasn’t willing to make, time away from the family. It took a couple years, but I feel like I’ve learned so much more these past two years than I did when I was on tour.”

Some of those lessons learned, Simpson says, can be passed on to others in his new role with Hurley, whether he’s coaching groms or someone trying to qualify for the CT.

“I was really stubborn,” he said. “It was a blessing in disguise, falling off tour and having those little bumps, to being more of an adult and growing personally. On tour you do a lot of things and you think you’re doing it right and if you’re not willing to change and evolve …

“You can get stubborn with judging, or preparation, or you think you’re better. Those things added up to me being frustrated, but I learned. I had six great years on tour and great memories. I look back and say I could have done a little bit better, but I’m still proud.”

Despite falling off the CT, Simpson did not lose his main sponsor in Hurley.

“That was funny because I had terrible timing,” Simpson said. “I fell off the tour and my contract was up that year. It was kind of rough but Hurley’s been great, I think we’re on 13 years together. They’ve been super supportive and they probably like having me at home and doing things around here, so that’s been awesome and given me a little more security on my future with them and not having to be on tour.

“Obviously, deep down inside I wanted to be there [on tour] but it’s given me more of a realistic plan. I live in Surf City, there are so many things I can be a part of and help, whether it’s me creating it or Hurley has some idea. And with the Hurley Surf Club we’re trying to figure out which path we want to go, to give back to the people and communities that maybe don’t get a lot of help and just open it up to them. Working with sales guys and going into stores and keeping them stoked and the stores stoked and taking them surfing, those kinds of things for the brand.”

The fam

The induction for Simpson represents and solidifies his career and personal transformation.

“For me, I’m trying to flip [my career] to the next chapter and this is going to be the opening phase,” he said. “I’m still going to compete a little bit but I’m moving on from chasing the QS. It’s a young man’s thing.

“Youth is my favorite thing to work with and I think I can help them a lot from the things that helped me and from the mistakes that I made. That’s my passion right now, helping the kids in this community and kids that reach out and want to work.”

And of course there is Simpson’s family, which is at the heart of everything now in his life, with wife Danielle and children Paige Lynn, 4, and Kobe James, 2. And yes, Kobe was named after former Laker Kobe Bryant and new Laker LeBron James.

“For a 2-year-old he has an arm, he throws the ball pretty well and we have hoops, he messes around,” Simpson said. “I’m going to be supportive of whatever he wants to do. I obviously want him to play a sport, surf. The few times we’ve paddled out and caught a few little waves, he was excited. One time we got rocked and he was like, ‘Mama!’ But we made it to the beach and he said, ‘More.’

“My daughter is athletic, too, and she likes dancing. I know that they have the ability to find something. And at that stage you just want them to be around the right people. That’s what I had, I had a lot of people guiding to me to the right people. Not people that pull you down, people that pick you up.”

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.