(
)
The unique relationship between NFL players and the real officials, who may very well earn standing ovations today from the thankful gladiators themselves, can be illustrated
with a story from Giants Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms, who thought Phil McConkey had been interfered with downfield by a Broncos defender.
“Jerry Markbreit was the referee,” Simms recalled. “I took my helmet off and slammed it on the ground. He said, ‘Phil, you understand the rules, right?’ I looked at him cross-eyed and said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘If you threw it, it’s 15 yards. … You dropped it, right? If you drop it, it’s not a penalty.’
“I just laughed.”
I asked Simms how Bill Parcells might have handled getting robbed the way the Packers were robbed by the replacement refs.
“I just know this: He would have been the speaker to the press. None of us would have been tweeting,” Simms said.
And there would have been no woe-is-us either from Parcells.
“We shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with,” Simms said. “ ‘You got robbed’ — I never
heard that from him.”
Simms said he doesn’t believe the loss of Darrelle Revis is the end of the world for the Jets.
“It’s a big deal.” he said before adding: “The Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassel at quarterback. It can be done, no doubt about it. We’ll see if the Jets can figure it out. They need some guys to step up and become stars.”
I reminded him that coach Rex Ryan does not have a pass rusher.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Simms said, then volunteered the names of Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples.
The World According to Simms:
The ascension of Matt Ryan: “He was bigger and stronger, and it just looks like it’s translated into him throwing the ball even better than he has in the past. Great control of the ball. And he has a new offensive coordinator [Dirk Koetter], so that’s changing things for him a little bit. It looks like it’s a system that really fits him well — a lot of timing throws. He did that great at Boston College.”
Since I really know how to hurt a guy, I brought up the fact Simms never had the luxury of receivers like Roddy White and Julio Jones.
“[Ryan has] got great receivers,” Simms said, “and we got rings, so I don’t know. Half the league’s got great receiving corps. There’s been a proliferation of dynamic receivers. They’re beasts. They’re virtually unstoppable.”
Simms is in Denver with CBS sidekick Jim Nantz for Raiders-Broncos today. Simms isn’t about to push any panic button on Peyton Manning and his right arm.
“It’s definitely on its way up, no doubt,” he said.
Ron Jaworski had noted that the ball hadn’t been spinning out of Manning’s hand the way it used to before the four neck surgeries.
“That’ll take care of itself in time,” Simms said. “He did throw quite a few spinners last week, and especially down the field. He’s looking for the killshot.”
Will we see the Peyton Manning we remember?
“If it keeps getting a little better,” Simms said, “that’ll be plenty.”
On the progress of the second-year quarterbacks who were drafted after Cam Newton: “I didn’t think it was such a great quarterback class, as a lot of people were saying,” Simms said.
On Christian Ponder: “Sometimes these guys throw it better in the pros than they do in college,” Simms said, “and Christian Ponder is one of those in my eyes.”
On Andy Dalton: “He’s more of a man this year. … His feet are little bit peppier, which has made his arm a little more dynamic too.”
On Jake Locker: “I have no complaints. He’s probably not gonna be a 70-percent completion guy, but he’s gonna be a big-play guy.”
On whether the 3-0 Cardinals are for real: “Anytime you play defense like they do, you’re for real,” Simms said. “They’ve settled into a style of play which you maybe pull back the offense a little. Let their defense be the star.
“Kevin Kolb has been dragged through the dirt, mud, spit on and everything else. It’s toughened him up.”
Simms often jokes that he wore out the boobirds. But make no mistake: They drove him to play angry.
“Is there any other way? That’s the only way to play baby!” Simms said, and laughed.
steve.serby@nypost.com