Thank you to our newest Lutzie 43 Foundation Board Member and dear friend of Philip, Scott Simpson, for authoring this blog post in memory of Philip Lutzenkirchen on his birthday, June 1.

My name is Scott Simpson and I’m extremely excited and humbled to be joining the Lutzie 43 Foundation Board of Directors. I’ve been assisting with the Foundation through the Next Generation (NextGen) Board since the Foundation’s inception in 2014. My main roles throughout the past eight years have included being Chair of the NextGen Board, helping to lead the annual Lutzie 43 5K Road Race in Marietta, Georgia and assisting with sponsorship recruitment for the Foundation.

I currently live in Atlanta with my wife of over five years, Mallory. We’re expecting our first child in September. We met at Auburn over ten years ago, a huge reason I’m forever indebted to my time on the Plains. I work as a Project Manager for Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC , a General Contractor based in Atlanta. My work is focused in the hospital and senior living sectors. I really enjoy the building process and the satisfaction of getting to drive by infrastructures I took part in creating. 

Philip and I first met on the football field in the sixth grade. We attended different elementary and middle schools within our district, so we hadn’t crossed paths until we both signed up for the Lassiter High School Junior Trojan football program. Our friendship grew throughout middle school and became even stronger as we started to attend high school together. When the time came to select a school to spend our collegiate years at, I’d be lying to you if I said that Philip’s decision to go to Auburn didn’t have an effect on my decision. He had been committed to play at Auburn during our junior year in high school and he let me join a few of his recruiting trips down on the Plains. Being a student at Auburn allowed me to be close to home, around great friends, and study Civil Engineering. Being in Auburn truly checked all the boxes. Philip and I both transitioned to Auburn seamlessly; his friends became my friends and vice versa. We moved into a house together off campus with other friends and lived together for over three years. 

The message that the Lutzie 43 Foundation is pushing out to the public has never been more relevant. We all lead such hectic and busy lives – always moving from one thing to the next without as much as stopping to clear our mind. Unsafe, distracted and impaired driving isn’t as clear-cut as only driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or looking at your phone. If your mind isn’t fully focused on the road then you are distracted. Lack of seatbelt use, lack of sleep and distracted minds can be just as dangerous. I love how the Foundation has continued to find ways to get information in front of the next generation of drivers, developing good habits and understanding of the consequences of unsafe, distracted and impaired driving at such an early age.