Chris Simms: 'Politics Of The NFL' Keeping Matt Simms From Getting Fair Shake With Jets
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Chris Simms had quite the Tuesday on WFAN.
During the same interview in which he ripped Tom Brady for his role in the "deflategate" scandal, the former NFL quarterback said his brother, Matt Simms, the third quarterback on the Jets' depth chart, is not getting a legitimate chance to play due to the family's name.
That may sound odd, but Chris Simms says it's a legitimate beef.
"(Matt) hasn't proven himself to be an NFL starter or anything like that, but every opportunity he's gotten, whether it's the preseason or even coming up in mop-up duty in the regular season he's done very well and taken advantage of those chances," Chris Simms said. "Some of the preseason performances he had … I truly believe if his last name was not Simms, teams would be wanting him to be their backup quarterback."
Chris Simms
Chris and Matt's father, Phil Simms, starred for 15 seasons as quarterback of the Giants and is currently one the top NFL analysts on television. It's his dad's second career that has Chris, who works for Bleacher Report and CBS, concerned as he told WFAN's Joe Benigno, "yes, without a doubt" having Phil Simms as a father is not helping Matt advance in the NFL as one would think it should.
"Because dad and I, of course, we know are not the most soft-spoken people in the world. The NFL, as you guys know, coaches are so conservative, very right wing, want everything to be private, don't want anybody to know their stuff," said Chris Simms, who played parts of eight seasons with Tampa Bay, Denver and Tennessee before calling it quits in 2010. "Now you get a guy like Matt Simms and now Phil Simms knows what this team is doing behind the scenes and maybe he agrees or thinks it's stupid … I do, I think some of that is part of the politics of the NFL."
Last week, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan told WFAN's Mike Francesa he was impressed with what he had seen during the offseason from Matt Simms. However, with veterans Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick in what many have termed as a two-horse race for the starting quarterback job it's hard to imagine anyone else getting legitimate playing time once September rolls around.
The Jets also selected Bryce Petty, the strong-armed signal-caller out of Baylor, in the fourth round of the draft. Though Petty is considered a project, many analysts believe he has a chance to be the franchise's quarterback of the future.
Now in his third season, Matt Simms appeared in a combined four games in 2013 and 2014, completing 19 of 39 passes for 195 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
