Damian Sims Damian Sims ( born March 26 , 1986 , in Boynton Beach , Florida ) is a professional Canadian football running back free agent . He was signed by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League as a street free agent in 2009 . He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes . His uncle is fellow BC Lion , Korey Banks . College career . As a freshman in 2004 , Sims played in seven games with his debut coming against Ohio State . Against Purdue , Sims completed a pass to teammate Drew Tate in the first pass attempt of his career . Sims had one kickoff return for 37 yards in the Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin and then a three yard kickoff return against LSU in the Capital One Bowl . He recorded 17 rushing attempts for 45 yards and added two pass receptions for a yard in the season . Sims saw action in 12 of Iowa ' s 13 games in 2005 , and started off playing cornerback before switching back to running back . He played cornerback against Ball State recording three tackles , and then switched back to running back against Northern Iowa . In his return he totaled 40 yards on two rushing attempts . Against Illinois he had six rushing attempts for 81 yards . 66 of his 81 yards came on a touchdown run late in the game . He rushed for a career best 104 yards in the Minnesota game , including a 71 yard touchdown run in the second quarter . In the Outback Bowl against Florida he recorded six yards on four rushes and had 12 yards on one pass catch . Sims added 107 kickoff return yards on five attempts including a team season high 47 yard return in the Florida game . Sims started 2006 , with seven rushes for 39 yards against Montana and then 10 rushes for 51 yards along with an 11 yard reception against Syracuse . He rushed 15 times for 55 yards against Illinois and scored his first touchdown of the season in the game . Sims ' first career college start came against Purdue where he had 20 rushes for 155 yards and two touchdowns . His second start of the season came against Indiana where he ran 22 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns . In the Alamo Bowl against Texas he ran for 26 yards on 12 rushes . Following spring practice in 2007 , Sims ' senior season he was listed as the second running back on the depth chart . His third career 100 rushing yards in a game came against Northern Illinois when he ran for 110 yards on 16 carries . He led the rushing attack against Syracuse with 12 rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown . In the Michigan State game , Sims ran for a season best 30 yard run and totaled 35 yards on three carries for the game . Professional career . After his career at Iowa , Sims entered the 2007 NFL Draft . At the NFL Combine , Sims ran a 4 . 47 forty yard dash . However he went undrafted and returned to Iowa to finish his degree and care for his daughter . In 2009 , Sims ' uncle BC Lions defensive back Korey Banks told Lions player personnel director Roy Shivers about his nephew and gave him a tape of Sims . Impressed , Shivers invited Sims to tryout and Sims ran a 4 . 4 forty yard dash , which was seven - tenths of a second faster than he ran nearly two years earlier . Sims was officially signed by the Lions in late April 2009 . Sims was reporetedly one of the leading contenders to replace Stefan Logan at running back with his main competition being Martell Mallett . He was released at the end of training camp on June 24 , 2009 .