Chris Simms

Chris Simms

Simms during a Texas Longhorns football team autograph session
Career information
College:	Texas
NFL draft:	2003 / round: 3 / pick: 97
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003-2007)
Career highlights and awards
College - Highest Pass Efficiency (138.4)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2007
TD-INT: 12-17 Passing yards: 3,087 QB Rating: 71.2 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Christopher David Simms (born August 29, 1980 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an NFL quarterback who is currently a free agent. He is the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms. Simms was selected 97th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

High school career

Simms attended Ramapo High School in 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

Simms played college football at the University of Texas at Austin.

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

University of Texas Records

Highest Pass Efficiency (Career) - 138.4. (Active player Colt McCoy currently has a 161.8 rating)

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

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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 in the regular season.

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 thus 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, Simms was expected to serve as a backup to Garcia. On October 9, Simms was placed on Injured Reserve for the rest of the season. The Bucs were expected to keep Simms on the roster for mini camp. If Simms plays well, they'd keep him into training camp. If he were to perform poorly, the Bucs will try to trade him for a late-round pick or release him. Simms is currently fifth on the depth chart at quarter back. Over the weekend of the 2008 NFL Draft there were many trade offers for Simms, but the Bucs declined leading to speculation that the team will keep him until training camp. Simms relationship with head coach Jon Gruden has significantly declined, due to the way Gruden treated Simms during Simms' recovery from a spleen injury. He has even said that

"The relationship between me and coach Gruden, it’s broken," Simms said. "And I don’t see any way it’s going to get better."

Simms said that he will never forgive Gruden, although he still respects the Buccaneers as an organization.

2008

On August 30, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released 20 players to reach the NFL-mandated limit of 53 players. Chris Simms was one of them. He worked out with the Baltimore Ravens, but was not signed. After Tom Brady's injury in the season opener, it has been reported that Simms will work out for the New England Patriots on Monday, September 8.

NFL statistics

Year	Games	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	0
2004	5	42	73	57.5%	467	1	3	64.1		7	14	2.0	0
2005	11	191	313	61.0%	2,035	10	7	81.4		19	31	1.6	0
2006	3	58	106	54.7%	585	1	7	46.3		4	7	1.8	1
2007	0	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0		0	0	0	0
Totals	19	291	492	59.1%	3,087	12	17	71.2		30	52	1.7	1

Personal life

Simms married Danielle Marie Puleo, whom he first met in high school, in August 2004. In 2006, Danielle gave birth to a baby girl Charlotte Elizabeth.

His younger brother, Matt Simms, is a freshman quarterback at the University of Louisville.

External links

• NFL.Com - Chris Simms