Chris Simms

Chris Simms

Former NFL quarterback and present ESPN broadcaster Chris Simme
No. 2     Retired
Quarterback
Personal information
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
College: Texas
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 3 / Pick: 97
Debuted in 2004 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003-2007) Tennessee Titans (2008) Denver Broncos (2009) Tennessee Titans (2010)
Career highlights and awards
College - Highest Pass Efficiency (138.4)
Career NFL statistics
Stats at NFL.com

Christopher David "Chris" Simms (born August 29, 1980) is a former NFL quarterback who was drafted in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also played for the Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans during the course of his playing career. Chris, who played college football for the Texas Longhorns, is the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms and the older brother of NFL quarterback Matt Simms.

High school career

Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Chris attended Ramapo High School in nearby Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and was a standout in football and basketball. In football, he was a two-time All-State honoree, and was named the 1998 USA Today National Offensive Player of the Year. Chris Simms graduated from Ramapo High School in 1999.

College career

Chris stablished himself as one of the most prolific signal callers in Longhorns history; he played in 43 games and started 32 during his career, completing 535-of-911 pass attempts (58.7%) for 7,097 yards, 58 touchdowns and 31 interceptions. Chris is the Longhorns’ record holder for career completion percentage (58.7%) and pass efficiency rating (138.36). He ranks second on the school’s career touchdown passes chart (58) and fourth on the school's career passing yards (7,097), total offense (6,960) and completions (535) lists He directed Texas to scores on 148 (112 TDs/36 FGs) of his 360 career drives (41.1%). He also led Texas to scores on 108-of-120 "Red Zone" drives (90.0%) and committed just three turnovers (two interceptions/one fumble). He completed 449-of-758 passes (59.2%) for 5,810 yards (25 games/232.4 ypg) and 48 touchdowns over his last two seasons as the Longhorns' starter

Simms, who played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, was heavily criticized for putting up big numbers against average or weaker teams, but consistently failing to deliver in big games and throwing interceptions, most notably in games against Big 12 South rival Oklahoma, against whom Simms finished 0-3. In the 2001 contest, he tossed four interceptions in a 14-3 loss. He also had a poor performance against Colorado in the 2001 Big 12 conference championship game where he fumbled and threw four interceptions, the last being returned for a touchdown— all before the close of the first half. He was benched and Major Applewhite replaced him.

College statistics

Year	Passing						Rushing
	Comp	Att	Yards	TDs	Int		Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1999	19	36	223	2	1		11	22	2.0	0
2000	67	117	1,064	8	7		26	-25	-1.0	0
2001	214	362	2,603	22	11		52	-10	-0.2	6
2002	235	396	3,207	26	12		70	-124	-1.8	4
Totals	535	911	7,094	58	21		159	-137	-0.2	10

Accomplishments and records

Despite the media's criticism, Simms managed to break a couple of school records.

Highest Pass Efficiency (Career) - 138.4. (Since eclipsed by Colt McCoy with 161.8)

3rd Best Winning Percentage (Career) - 26-6, 0.812 (Behind Bobby Layne and Vince Young).

2nd most touchdowns (Career) - 58 (Behind Major Applewhite).

2nd most touchdowns (Single Season) - 26 (Behind Colt McCoy, tied with Vince Young).

2nd most touchdowns (Single Game) - 5 (Behind Colt McCoy, tied with Bobby Layne).

2nd most passing yards in a game (vs Nebraska) - 419 (behind Major Applewhite).

NFL career

2003

Simms was drafted with the last pick of the 3rd round in 2003 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the expectation that he would eventually be the successor to Brad Johnson. He was cast 3rd on the Bucs depth chart behind Johnson and former Buccaneers starter Shaun King. Simms sat his entire rookie year without playing a single snap.

2004

In 2004, Simms started the season as the 3rd string quarterback again, this time behind Johnson and former Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins starter Brian Griese, but was quickly promoted to backup quarterback after a poor preseason by Griese. Simms saw his first action on September 19th, 2004 against the Seattle Seahawks after a below-average performance by Johnson, coming into the game with 10:32 left in the 2nd quarter. Simms went 21-32 with 175 yards and an interception . Simms received his first start two games later against the New Orleans Saints on October 10th, 2004 after the Bucs started 0-4 and Johnson was benched for his poor performance. Simms went 5-8 for 75 yards but injured his shoulder early in the game and missed three weeks, allowing Brian Griese to secure the position with 3 straight wins. Simms saw occasional action as the backup QB to Griese and started a meaningless final game against the Arizona Cardinals where he threw for 224 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions .

2005

In 2005, Simms was slated on the depth chart as the backup quarterback, behind Griese and ahead of former Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Luke McCown. Simms got his first snap of the season after Miami Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas was pushed onto Griese's leg with several minutes left in the game on October 16, 2005. Despite the injury, the Buccaneers prevailed 27-13 in the game in which Griese was lost for the season. Simms performed well, completing 6 of 10 passes for 69 yards . Simms got his first start of the season the following week against a weak San Francisco 49ers squad. While Simms had decent numbers (21-34, 264yds, 1TD, 2INT), his performance was considered poor, as there were many times when he underthrew his receivers, missed open receivers, or incorrectly read the defensive coverage. Simms followed up this performance with about the same performance (25-42, 259, 1TD, 2INT) against the division rival Carolina Panthers, who were considered a much better team than San Francisco. Since these two losses however, Simms has performed better than expected and has a knack for late-game heroics. He led fourth-quarter charges against fellow division rival Atlanta twice, as well as the Washington Redskins. The Redskin game was his best performance of the year as Simms threw for 3 scores as the Buccaneers won 36-35 in a remarkable game. Simms had a much more impressive performance in the rematch against Carolina on the road. The two losses in this stretch were against the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, and the Chicago Bears, who were ranked #1 in the league in total defense, and in both of these games, Simms did not throw any interceptions, and was sacked a combined 11 times. He even led Tampa Bay to another fourth-quarter comeback against the Bears but a 29-yard field goal attempt floated wide right giving the Bears a 13-10 victory .

Simms led the Buccaneers to their first playoff berth since their Super Bowl victory in the 2002 season. In the rematch vs. the Redskins Simms led Tampa Bay back again from a 17-3 halftime deficit. With the score at 17-10 late in the fourth quarter, Simms hit Edell Shepherd on an apparent 35-yard TD strike. However, Shepherd failed to maintain possession as he hit the ground. Tampa Bay lost 17-10 in a game where Washington gained only 120 yards of offense, the lowest total for a playoff winner in NFL history .

2006

Chris Simms had played well at the end of the 2005 season, and thusly came into the 2006 season with high expectations around him. However, for no particular obvious reason, Simms's play in the first two weeks was abysmal. In back-to-back games against the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons, Simms posted up 45 completions on 82 attempts for 446 yards, but had zero touchdowns and six interceptions. He continued to have several of his passes tipped by defensive linemen. Largely due to his inexplicably poor play, the Bucs scored a mere 3 points in two games.

Simms suffered a season-ending injury in Game 3 of the 2006 schedule. On Sunday, September 24, he was taken off the field after taking hard hits from the Carolina Panthers defense. Simms returned to the game and even led a successful scoring drive, but remained in physical distress and was taken to a nearby hospital after the game. Tests revealed a ruptured spleen, and Simms immediately underwent emergency surgery. In the aftermath, Simms said he lost five pints of blood before the operation and conceded that another 45 minutes without treatment could have been fatal. Though not proven, it has been suggested that the injury was caused by an illegal hit from Al Wallace who was later fined by the NFL. Simms has become a spokesman in the Tampa area for blood donations. The injury ended Simms's season. Playing on a one-year/$2.1 million contract signed before the season, Simms was eligible for free agency for 2007 and was expected to be in demand.

2007

On December 27, 2006, Simms announced that he had signed a two-year extension to remain with the Buccaneers with the expectation that he would start. Due to complications from his recovery and the performance of Jeff Garcia in mini camp, At the beginning of the season, Simms was expected to serve as a backup to Garcia , but he is currently listed as the fourth string quarterback due to the better play of Bruce Gradkowski and Luke McCown.. On October 9, Simms was place on Injured Reserve for the rest of the season.

NFL statistics

Year	Passing								Rushing
	Comp	Att	Percentage	Yards	TDs	Int	Rating		Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2003	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0		0	0	0.0	0
2004	42	73	57.5%	467	1	3	64.1		7	14	2.0	0
2005	191	313	61.0%	2,035	10	7	81.4		19	31	1.6	0
2006	58	106	54.7%	585	1	7	46.3		4	7	1.8	1
Totals	291	492	59.1%	3,087	12	17	71.2		30	52	1.7	1

Broadcasting career

On July 22, 2013, Chris Simms was included in Fox Sports' commentator lineup for the 2013 college football season. He made his debut as color commentator when West Virginia played William & Mary on August 31, 2013.

Chris Simms joined Bleacher Report in February 2014 as an NFL Analyst, a high-profile hire for Time-Warner and Turner Sports's rapidly growing mobile product, Team Stream.

From 2014 to 2016, Simms was as a color commentator for the NFL on CBS, joining his father as part of the CBS broadcasting team. He left after the 2016 season to join his father's old employer, NBC Sports, where he is a studio analyst for Notre Dame football and a personality on NBC Sports Radio. In March 2019, Simms left Bleacher Report to become a full-time employee of NBC working as an analyst for Football Night In America and Notre Dame football, as well as co-host of NBC Sports Radio/NBCSN program ProFootballTalk Live.

Personal life

Simms married Danielle Marie Puleo in August 2004, whom he first met in high school. Together, they have two children: Charlotte, born in 2006, and Phillip, born in 2010.

Simms was arrested in July 2010 and charged with driving while intoxicated, but was acquitted at trial in May 2011.

External links

• Chris Simms article at Wikipedia