According to Chris Simms — reverse nepotism has prevented Matt Simms from getting the opportunity to become a quality starter in the NFL.
Instead of the Simms name giving his younger brother opportunities to flourish, Chris said in a WFAN interview that his younger brother – who was the third-stringer for the Jets the past two seasons and will have to fight for a roster spot this preseason – is not prospering because of his family name.
“[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 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 believes it’s less about his brothers ability, and more about coaches and execs having a conservative outlook on the Simms family as analyst.
“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 for eight years and now also works for CBS and Bleacher Report.
“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.”
Matt Simms is 19 of 39 passes for 195 yards with one touchdown and one pick in four career games over the first two years of his career.