Even while he was a member of the disastrous New York Jets quarterback depth chart over the past three seasons, Matt Simms existed in relative obscurity. Over the past two seasons, the former Tennessee quarterback has thrown just 39 regular season passes.
Never considered much of a NFL prospect, Simms went undrafted back in 2012. This came on the heels him throwing just eight touchdowns compared to eight interceptions in two seasons with the Volunteers.
Needless to say, Simms is pretty irrelevant by NFL standards.
This didn’t stop his brother, Chris, from stepping up in defense of his younger sibling and blaming outside factors for him not getting a fair shake in New York (via CBS New York).
“(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.”
It’s true that Simms has preformed well in preseason action. He’s completed 67 percent of his passes for over 800 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in three years worth of preseason action. However, anyone taking anything out of preseason statistics probably shouldn’t be considered a voice of authority regarding quarterback play in the NFL.
Chris Simms then went on to indicate that his father, Phil, and himself are two of the reasons why Matt hasn’t received a fair shake in the NFL.
“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,” the former NFL quarterback said. “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.”
Um. “conservative” and “right wing?” Honestly, I have no idea the political ideologies of head coaches around the league. Is there some sort of website or information out there that keeps tabs about coaches and their politics?
In addition to this, Chris seems to think he was more important than he actually was as a quarterback in the NFL. He started 16 games in five seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. During that span, the former Texans quarterback through 12 touchdowns compared to 18 interceptions.
His father, Phil, played for 15 seasons in the NFL. He led the New York Giants to a Super Bowl title in 1986 and has been in the broadcasting business ever since. Somewhat outspoken in the business of football, the former Super Bowl MVP doesn’t strike me as someone that stirs up the pot too much.
Could it be that Matt Simms just isn’t a NFL-caliber player? After all, we are looking at a quarterback the Jets didn’t give a chance to when they were rolling with the likes of Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith and Michael Vick in recent seasons.
Sometimes, you simply don’t have to look past the game film. That would probably be better than blaming a quarterback’s last name or politics for not getting a shot.
Just a thought.
Photo: USA Today Sports