Athletes - Chris Simms

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	Athletes - Chris Simms

Christopher David Simms (born August 29, 1980, in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an NFL quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the son of former New York Giants quaterback Phil Simms. He married Danielle Marie Puleo, who he first met in high school, in August 2004.

High school career

Simms attended Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and was a standout in football and basketball.

College career

Simms, who played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, was heavily criticized for putting up big numbers against average and weak teams, but folding in big games and throwing interceptions, most notably against Oklahoma whom Simms finished 0-3 against. In the 2001 contest, he tossed four interceptions in a 14-3 loss. He also had a poor performance against Colorado in the 2001 Big 12 conference championship game where he fumbled and threw three interceptions, one being returned for a touchdown—in the first half. He was benched and Major Applewhite replaced him. Had Texas won, they would have played in the Rose Bowl for the national championship.

Despite the media's criticism, Simms managed to break many school records, many of which still stand to this day.

Highest Pass Efficiency (Career) - 138.4

2nd Best Winning Percentage - 26-6 (Bobby Lane the all time leader)

Most Touchdowns Thrown in a Game - 5 (tied with James Brown for 1st)

Most Touchdowns thrown in Season - 26

2nd Most touchdowns thrown in Career - 58

NFL career

Simms was drafted with the last pick of the 3rd round in 2003 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and wore a pink shirt that day, 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.

Simms has a strong, accurate arm. He possesses incredible touch and accuracy on his deep throws. Consistenly hooked up with receivers when given time to look downfield. His 50-yard TD throw to Joey Galloway in Week 9 of the 2005 season vs. Carolina was evidence of this as Simms dropped to throw and heaved the ball over 60 yards to an open Galloway in the back of the endzone.

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.

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 saw his first snaps of the season after Griese injured his knee while being hit by Miami Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas on October 16th, 2005 in what turned out to be a season-ending injury. 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 Fransisco 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 an equally poor performance against the division rival Carolina Panthers. 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 perforamce 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 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. Simms's throw could not have been any better as he hit his receiver in stride in the endzone. Tampa Bay lost 17-10 in a game where Washington gained 120 of offense. Because of Simms's improved performance throughout the season, he is expected to be competing with Brian Griese for the starting quarterback position in 2006.

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Athletes - Chris Simms

High school career

College career

NFL career

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