On Dec. 4, Auburn senior defensive back Jaylin Simpson fielded questions from fans on his Instagram profile.

With the Tigers having just learned their bowl game fate the day prior, it didn’t come as a surprise when one of the questions Simpson was asked was whether he intended on playing in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against the Maryland Terrapins, or if he’d opt out, like countless college football players do.

“Yep,” Simpson replied, indicating that he’d suit up for the Tigers in Nashville on Dec. 30.

Two days later, however, it was announced that Simpson had accepted his invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

While Simpson has yet to acknowledge his future plans, accepting an invitation to the Senior Bowl is more times than not the first step a player takes when looking to enter the NFL Draft, indicating the likelihood of Simpson foregoing his senior season in 2024.

Did that mean Simpson was going to second guess his commitment to playing in Auburn’s bowl game?

Considering the trend of players opting out of bowl games ahead of the NFL Draft to avoid risks of injury and other reasons, it’s likely no one could blame him had he decided to sit out the Music Bowl.

However, those who heard or read Simpson’s comments from an interview done in late October knew the Auburn defensive back wasn’t going to sit out of a bowl game – regardless of where it was being played or who the Tigers were going to be playing.

“Me personally, I just want to go to a bowl game because I just like to play,” Simpson said two days after Auburn’s loss to Ole Miss, meaning the Tigers were still three wins away from bowl eligibility. “It’s just important because if you don’t go to a bowl game you have to sit and watch everyone play.”

And Simpson remembers that feeling from last season. In 2022, the Tigers missed the boat on becoming eligible for a bowl game after finishing the regular season 5-7.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but for me I was not happy,” Simpson added in that interview from October. “I was not happy that I wasn’t playing in a bowl game.”

The Tigers final punched their ticket to the postseason with a convincing win over Arkansas on Nov. 11, meaning Auburn locked up a bowl bid under head coach Hugh Freeze.

It also meant Simpson would be granted another opportunity to put on an Auburn uniform – something Tigers’ fans shouldn’t – and likely won’t – take for granted.

Just as opting out of bowl games is the trendy thing to do, so is transferring to a different program.

In 2022, more than 2,100 college football players entered their name into the transfer portal.

With just under a week left in the 30-day transfer portal window, On3 Sports reports more than 2,700 college football players have entered their name into the transfer portal.

But as evident by his decision to play in Auburn’s bowl game against Maryland on Saturday, Simpson isn’t one to fall into trends.

Simpson arrived at Auburn in 2019, back when he was a lot less experienced and a 20 pounds lighter.

“I was a little one,” Simpson joked in the preseason.

Since then, Simpson has seen three different head coaches, four different defensive coordinators and an entire global pandemic.

“You name it, bro. I just stuck it out,” Simpson said.

But again, why?

Simpson didn’t cement himself as a starter in Auburn’s secondary until the 2022 season – meaning he spent his first three seasons seeing limited action. And in today’s world of college football, most players in that situation would’ve bounced.

“Everybody always says it’s like a family thing. For me, it kinda is family,” Simpson said in an interview on Dec. 10. “It was guys like Jordyn Peters and Smoke Monday and all those guys. The players that we’re here, they were pretty much the reason I came because I built relationships with them and I just wanted to be a part of the team with those guys.”

Succeeding Peters, Monday and other members of Auburn’s defensive secondary were guys like Simpson, Nehemiah Pritchett and Zion Puckett.

Like Simpson, Pritchett and Puckett have gone through the same revolving door of changes and challenges that have come through The Plains, and never wavered in their commitment.

“Me, Nehemiah, Zion… we just stuck it out because we just love Auburn so much, man,” Simpson said. “There was really no reason to leave even though all this craziness was going on. I feel like that was just in us. We were just Auburn men. We were just Auburn men and we stuck it out.”

And while Pritchett has made his decision to opt out of Saturday’s bowl game, Puckett will be joining Simpson in playing their final game against Maryland.

“It means a lot because this is both of our last game,” Puckett said. “And I think the right way is just to finish out strong for Auburn and the family here. I think that’s going to mean a lot to both of us.”

Fortunately for the Tigers’ football program and fans alike, when Simpson walks off the field of Nashville’s Nissan Stadium Saturday evening, he won’t be leaving his final footprint.

Back in August, as Auburn got fall camp underway, Simpson learned firsthand that life comes at you fast.

Simpson, suddenly in his fifth season on The Plains, was referred to as a veteran.

“I was just like, ‘Dang I am a vet’,” Simpson said, recalling the realization that he was no longer the skinny freshman from Brunswick, Ga.

So, Simpson acted like a veteran.

“I remember with (Jeremiah Dinson) and all those guys, (Daniel) Thomas, they were the vets when I first came in and it’s just like, ‘I’m in their position now,’” Simpson said in August. “When I do look in the mirror, I think about T-Love, T-Scott, Colton (Hood), Kayin Lee, all those guys and I’ve got an obligation to get these guys ready to play.”

Because his senior counterparts in Pritchett and DJ James have decided to opt out of Saturday’s game against the Terrapins, some of Auburn’s younger defensive backs like Terrance Love, Tyler Scott, Colton Hood and Kayin Lee will be thrown into the fire during Saturday’s bowl game.

It’ll be a full circle moment for Simpson, who will have the opportunity to play alongside some of the guys he’s spent all season mentoring and polishing to get them ready for their moment — just as Simpson’s mentors did for him.

But that opportunity wouldn’t have been possible had Simpson not been one to turn away from the sport’s latest trends – no matter how popular they might be becoming.