OL Brian Simmons shrugs off clubfoot — really — to try to make the Patriots … and links!

The only way I could tell that Brian Simmons was stricken with the deformity called clubfoot is that his right calf is noticeably thinner than his left one. He points to it to make sure I see it, then hits his right thigh. “You look at that right there — the thigh — that’s where the power’s coming from,” Simmons told me with a smile yesterday after practice. “So, it doesn’t affect me at all.” Simmons is an undrafted free agent from Oklahoma, a player who coach Bill Belichick described as someone who could “potentially be a practice squad-type candidate.” But don’t mistake him for ordinary. Simmons was the subject of my story in today’s paper because he overcame three surgeries before the age of 3 and 16 corrections to be able to not only walk normally but also earn a spot at an NFL camp. The ailment, by the way, causes the foot to form inward and downward, which is why it had to be re-broken and fixed. The whole thing is pr...