The drive from the house he grew up in is 30 minutes to the Jets’ Atlantic Health Training Center, and Matt Simms cherishes it every day. Because the road between him and his NFL dream was a long and winding one, filled with potholes.
“Every drive, I reflect upon what’s happened, what lies ahead … every drive, from here and back, there’s always like a reflection period where I’m probably singing a song way too loud to myself, but at the same time, I’m chuckling at myself just because of the situation, the adversity and all that I’ve dealt with, and the fact that I’m still here,” Simms said. “I have a lot of thoughts going on in my mind.”
Simms’ father, Phil Simms, the Super Bowl champion Giants quarterback, was a first-round draft choice, out of Morehead (Ky.) State. Matt was an undrafted afterthought.
“Troubled college career … not really having the college career that most people dream of where they go to a school for four years, and they go on and get drafted,” Matt said. “And then also, being like the fourth guy in camp this year, and working my way to being the No. 2, and still being the No. 2.”
Even before Louisville coach Bobby Petrino left him and the rest of the Cardinals high and dry to coach the Atlanta Falcons, before he transferred to El Camino (Calif.) College, before he wound up at Tennessee, before he was cut by the Jets in training camp in 2012, Matt Simms had obstacles in his path.
“I mean, being Phil Simms’ son, being the brother of Chris Simms … [there was] a lot of pressure when I was younger that I didn’t quite understand,” Matt said. “A lot of people saying very negative things to me growing up just because of who I was. My brother and I, taunted to an unbelievable amount, in pee wee football, just because of who we were. I always felt like I always kind of had a little target on my back, I guess, just growing up. And then it was magnified again in high school [Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.]. And then in college, obviously, no one really cared anymore.”
Jets fans care now. Matt Simms is a heartbeat from the presidency behind Geno Smith.
“It’s a tough job,” Matt said. “Even in the games that I haven’t played in, I’ll go home and I’ll just be completely wiped out, because every play, it’s like, ‘OK, is this it?’ If [Smith is] like a little slow to get up, I’m like walking to get my helmet — ‘Oh, OK, he’s OK.’ You’re always going through that battle. And mentally, you’re just constantly, ‘OK, what’s this play, what’s our read?’ this and that, going through the process. When he comes off the field, what did I see to help him to tell him? Things like that. … I try to just be almost over involved constantly so I’m not completely caught off guard if something does happen.”
Something happened last Sunday when Rex Ryan yanked the floundering Smith and turned to Matt for a spark. His mother, Diana, watched it all on television at home.
“Like any mother, I think she was just excited that I played, excited that I did some things,” Matt said. “Of course, the main thing, she’s just happy that I walked in the door and I’m healthy. Just like any other mother would be.”
I asked Matt if his mother asked him to stop playing after her older son, Chris, needed emergency surgery to remove his spleen and nearly lost his life when he quarterbacked the Buccaneers.
“She didn’t ask me to stop playing, but … none of us were really sure what to think about it, just because, how many times have you heard that happen, where someone almost loses their life, an internal injury like that as well?” Matt said.
“I don’t really know. … If she told me to quit, I definitely disregarded it ’cause I don’t even remember,” Matt added with a chuckle.
When Matt was growing up, his father was a television announcer and not a Super Bowl quarterback
“She’s definitely more, I guess, just accustomed to the lifestyle now, and she understands that yeah, there is a certain level of risk that we just can’t avoid,” Matt said.
Phil, who was working Chiefs-Broncos last Sunday for CBS, watched his son on a television at Arrowhead Stadium. Matt saw his father at home later that night.
“I think he was just happy that I got out there and did some good things and played hard,” Matt said, “and he was happy I showed good energy, and all that kind of thing, so…”
Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg likes Matt’s confidence, and everyone loves his arm. Like father, like son.
“I think we both have the mind-set of we try to perceive ourselves more as football players, and not as quarterbacks all the time, because we do have that heavy chip on our shoulder,” Matt said. “I kind of get that from my father.”
Bill Parcells praised Phil Simms as a battlefield commander.
“If I wasn’t competitive, or if I didn’t battle, I don’t think I’d be here right now,” Matt said, “so when I get on that field, yeah, I’m going to play as hard as I can no matter what, to the whistle, and let my play take care of itself.”
When the decision was reached Monday that Smith would start against the Raiders, Matt offered his full support.
“I just said, ‘Hey man, you’re the guy, and who cares what anybody else says outside of this building?’ ” Matt said. “ ‘It doesn’t matter. The coaches believe in you, we believe in you, and that’s all that matters.’ ”
All that matters is Matt Simms is driving on the road to the NFL, suddenly such a short distance from where the dream began at his New Jersey home.
“I’m living at home, yeah … making it easy on myself,” Matt said, and smiled. “I’m trying to save every dollar I can get.”