Metro

Chris Simms arrested for driving while stoned

Tennessee Titans quarterback Chris Simms was busted early this morning in the West Village driving high on marijuana with his 8-months pregnant wife in the passenger seat, The Post has learned.

Simms and his wife Danielle, both 29 of Nashville, were stopped as Simms drove their 2009 Mercedes Benz through an NYPD Manhattan South Task Force checkpoint on W. Houston Street at about 1:05 a.m., according to a source.

“I was smoking marijuana in the car earlier,” Simms told cops, prosecutor Lauren Perry said during Simms’ arraignment this afternoon in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Simms — who has a 4-year-old daughter — reeked of marijuana and had red eyes, a flushed face and slurred speech, sources told The Post.

“He was muttering,” a source said.

Simms was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by marijuana.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to one year in jail.

No drugs were found on Simms or in the car, and his wife, Danielle, was allowed to drive off in the Mercedes.

“My client never admitted to smoking marijuana that night. He said he was smoking cigarettes that night,” said Simms’ attorney, Nathan Semmel, who revealed that two other unnamed passengers were in the car at some point during the evening.

“The DA should investigate whether those two individuals were responsible for the marijuana odor.”

But police sources insisted to The Post that only Simms and his wife were in the car.

Simms — wearing a pale blue, rumpled Oxford shirt and baggy jeans — turned down a prosecution deal to plead guilty, pay a $500 fine, serve three days community service and have his license revoked for six months.

“Witnesses will also corroborate that he never smoked marijuana in the car that day. It is absurd to think . . . he would ever drive in any condition intoxicated while his wife was eight months pregnant,” said Semmel.

“There is nothing in his record whatsoever that suggests he would be that reckless.”

Following his appearance, Simms rejoined his anxiously waiting wife in the audience. She could be seen hugging him, smiling at him and affectionately rubbing his arm.

“There’s nothing I’d like to say,” Simms told reporters. “I think [the court proceeding] speaks for itself.”

“It’s very weak,” he added, referring to the prosecution’s case against him.

Simms is due back in court on Aug. 23.

“We are aware of the reports and are in the process of gathering more information,” said Robbie Bohren, team director of media relations, when asked about Simms’ arrest.

“It endangers all of us,” said police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “Driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of drugs. If you’re going to go some place by yourself and hurt yourself thats one thing. When you put the rest of the public at risk, that’s another thing and that’s our business. That’s where we intervene.”

Simms is the son of former 1987 Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms and graduated from Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, N.J., where he was a standout quarterback twice named an All-State honoree.

He went on to play college ball for the Longhorns at the University of Texas in Austin.

Professionally, he has also played for the Denver Broncos and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has struggled to regain starter status since rupturing his spleen while playing for Tampa in 2006.

In April, he signed a one-year contract with the Titans, where he formerly played in 2008. The team finished its minicamp last week, with training camp scheduled to start July 31.

Phil Simms is now a football analyst with CBS Sports and has a second son, Matt, who also plays.

With Larry Celona