Rod Simons Dead at 56

Rod Simons, a Twin Cities broadcast journalist and former sports anchor at KSTP television, died Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., where he was covering Twins spring training. Simons, 56, suffered an apparent heart attack. Simons, owner of Rod Simons Media Communications, ran Game On! TV, which featured freelance television reporting and was a contributor to the Twins broadcasting station, 96.3 FM. He was a sports anchor for KSTP from 2003-08 after working for television stations in Seattle and Portland. Minneapolis Star Tribune

Before moving to Minnesota, Simons anchored the launch of FOX Sports Net’s “Regional Sports Report” in the Pacific Northwest and Detroit Regions while also hosting KOMO-AM sports in Seattle. In all, Simons spent 18 years as a lead news and sports anchor at KSTW-TV (CBS/UPN) in Seattle; KOIN-TV (CBS) in Portland; KJR-AM in Seattle and KVI-AM in Seattle. His body of work as sports director at KSTW included covering Rose Bowls, the Mariners’ AL playoff runs from 1995-2001 and the Sonics’ 1996 trip to the NBA Finals against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. -Seattle Times