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I don’t agree with the premise he’s espousing. In my opinion, he might actually have it backwards. Let’s take a closer look . . .
Chris Simms said on WFAN that Matt Simms last name is hurting him.
“(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.”
First of all, Chris is overrating Matt’s performances. In the fourth preseason game last year, against Philadelphia, against all backups, he didn’t get the Jets in the end zone – once. This was his game to shine, and it didn’t happen.
Great guy, great teammate, hard worker, class act, but he’s an average quarterback. He’s not getting a raw deal. One issue with Matt Simms is that he throws a flat deep ball with little arc on it.
And actually I think the reverse is true when you look at Chris’ theory. In 2012, I thought the guy that got the raw deal was G.J. Kinne. He signed as an undrafted free agent, but didn’t last very long before Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan cut him for Matt Simms. Kinne was a priority undrafted free agent, and was he bounced after the rookie mini-camp for Matt Simms, who was there for a tryout. It was unfair. Kinne couldn’t find another job that spring or summer because all the teams had their quarterbacks. Matt Simms shouldn’t not have been given Kinne’s job.
I can’t prove this, but I think Mike and Rex were trying to be big shots with Phil. That was my gut feeling.
Did Matt Simms really beat out Greg McElroy in the summer of 2013? Not really. Politics, in part related to Rex hating Greg McElroy’s guts.
“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. “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.”
I think that is grassy knoll, tin-foil hat stuff.
What does right-wing have to do with anything? I have no idea of the politics of Rex Ryan or Todd Bowles. And honestly, most coaches are close to the vest with information, regardless of their political ideology.
And plus, Matt Simms is in the quarterback meetings, in the offensive meetings, whether he is starting or not. So that theory doesn’t hold much water. Even if you are a reserve QB, you have access to the offensive strategy, the playbooks, the game-plan and so fourth.
Matt Simms has not been dealt a bad hand.
In fact, after his rough college career, his time with the Jets has been more time in the league than most thought he would get.
May 14, 2015
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