Simms empathizes with Luck on retirement decision
Chris Simms walks through the emotions he felt upon learning the news of Andrew Luck's retirement, and gave his perspective as a former NFL quarterback.
Video Transcript
PAUL BURMEISTER: Saturday evening.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
PAUL BURMEISTER: When the news broke.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Still didn't hear about it. Where were you? ?
CHRIS SIMMS: I was watching preseason football, OK? I mean, I was trying to watch Miami-Florida College football, but that was unbearable. All right?
PAUL BURMEISTER: How so?
CHRIS SIMMS: Because it was just so sloppy, and the game takes so long, and--
PAUL BURMEISTER: They do take forever. Oh my gosh.
CHRIS SIMMS: --every play, we got to look at the coach. And oh, it's third and 2. We can't run a third and 2 play. We got to call a timeout. I got to go talk about it. We haven't talked about third and 2.
So that drove me crazy. That's what happens when you get scarred by the NFL because the game is just more efficient.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: So I'm sitting there, going back and forth between that and the Jets and the Saints.
PAUL BURMEISTER: OK.
CHRIS SIMMS: And I'm there. It's my nephew's birthday, so I'm at my dad's house.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Ignoring family.
CHRIS SIMMS: Ignoring family. The party's over. I've had enough. Like, get out of here, OK? It's time to sit on the couch. And I have a guy here, a family friend who is like wait, wait. Did you guys not just see that? And we're like, what are you talking about? And he's like, I swear, it just said Andrew Luck retired on the bottle of the screen. We're all like--
PAUL BURMEISTER: No.
CHRIS SIMMS: --no, it didn't.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right?
CHRIS SIMMS: And you know, of course, we got DIRECTV and the DVR. You can rewind it right there. And I was like, I got to see. I don't believe you. Throwing the challenge flag. And--
PAUL BURMEISTER: There it was.
CHRIS SIMMS: I mean, we were so locked in on the game. And I think Taysom Hill was playing at that point. But there it was, breaking news. And I mean, shocking.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Completely.
CHRIS SIMMS: Truly.
PAUL BURMEISTER: I was on the sideline working to PLL game in Albany on Saturday. And I thought someone just didn't know what they talking about.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Because someone at the desk behind me where they do stats, some of the PLL administration sits, somebody said it. I was like, there's no way that's true. And we're walking to the truck after the game, and sure enough, there it was.
CHRIS SIMMS: There it was.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Here's what I was thinking about driving in because my feelings about it now are much different than they were Saturday night. It was just shock and surprise.
CHRIS SIMMS: Get you?
PAUL BURMEISTER: There's no way.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: So three days later--
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: --you've thought about it.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: You've read about it, thought about it some more. What's your headline?
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah. I mean, I think at first I was disappointed, and not like in Andrew Luck, but because I'm a football fan. I go, damn, the Colts are like a Super Bowl contender. And I kind of wanted to see what they were going to look like this year. And I like watching Andrew Luck play.
But I get it. I feel like I came to that-- and especially me because I know I battled through some of this crap myself and maybe didn't get beat up to the capacity of all different body parts hurting. But I struggled with my--
PAUL BURMEISTER: You lost a vital organ.
CHRIS SIMMS: I lost a vital organ, and it took me, really, about 18 months to--
PAUL BURMEISTER: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: It took me a full year just to find somebody to give me some answers to what the hell was going on. And why did I have one of the strongest arms in football, and now I'm like third on the peewee team in arm strength? OK?
So I didn't understand any of that. So I understand his frustration. But yeah, at first, as it went on, I just went, hey, he's not in it physically, mentally. The grind of the sport and him physically having to try to get ready on a day-to-day basis, it's worn him out to where he doesn't love the game anymore.
And I get that because I've got to periods with my rehab where I was just like, every day I'd wake up, and I'd be, I hope this is the day I can throw again.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: I hope this is the day I can throw again. And then it's day 450, and you're going--
PAUL BURMEISTER: And you don't feel any better. Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: And I'm going, damn, do I want to keep doing this? This is so [BLEEP] frustrating.
PAUL BURMEISTER: I think that's the question that a lot of players-- and I was around it for a minute. Paid a lot of attention, but I wasn't around it the way you were, didn't play it the way you did. But my mind went to a day or two later, what you just said. I wonder how many guys get to the point where like, I don't really want to do this anymore, and they keep doing it.
CHRIS SIMMS: Sure. Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And I think they do. And I came up with three reasons.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And see if you check the box with all three of these. Number 1, they love the money. Who wouldn't like millions and millions of dollars?
CHRIS SIMMS: Exactly right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: He didn't seem like he really needed the money. So number 1--
CHRIS SIMMS: And he has the money. See, that's where he can walk away.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right. At one point he needed it, but at this point, however many millions he has--
CHRIS SIMMS: He's got at least 30 million in the bank. Unless he's been buying Rolls Royces on a daily basis, he's got at least 30 million in the bank.
PAUL BURMEISTER: So the money answer as to why am I going to keep doing this didn't really-- it didn't keep him going.
CHRIS SIMMS: Didn't relate to him. Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Number 2, a lot of players-- and I was in this category too. I'm not ripping people. They don't have a lot of interests outside of football. So that thought, what am I going to do?
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
PAUL BURMEISTER: What would I do all day if I didn't have this? I don't think Andrew Luck had that issue.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, no, right. He's an extremely smart human being. I mean--
PAUL BURMEISTER: He's not worried about his days being fulfilled without studying for football, without playing football. And then number 3, the big one to me, his identity seemed to go way beyond just himself as a quarterback.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Think about how you felt about yourself when you're 25. What was number one with an exclamation point? You're a quarterback.
CHRIS SIMMS: No doubt.
PAUL BURMEISTER: It's who you are.
CHRIS SIMMS: It's all I thought about every day. Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And he doesn't seem like the kind of guy where that was running his identity.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
PAUL BURMEISTER: So he said no to all three of those answers. Like, screw this. I don't need it.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah. I think you're exactly right. And I think he probably felt like with all the injuries and him having to struggle and rehab and not feeling right that it was probably hurting that identity that you're talking about as a human being.
When he talks about I'm not getting to live life the way I want to, and that's scary. And I'm sure he's sitting there thinking, wow, it's only going to get worse as I continue to play. Hey, he did a good job avoiding hits last year, but he's still a in the pocket, I'm going to stand there and wait for that guy to get open downfield.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And run a lot and take hits as well.
CHRIS SIMMS: And run a lot and take hits as well. And again, this is where I'll go back. We know about all the major injuries he's had. And it's a long list. We don't know about all the other knickknacks and nagging injuries. He's old school. He's not going to sit there and tell you about every little thing that's bothered him through his career.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: I think it's the guy that probably had a lot of issues and just was like, oh, OK, I feel OK today. I'll push through it. And then he's got these other issues where, obviously, he can not push through it.
And I feel for him and the fact that it is not easy to continue to battle like that day after day after day. And if you're not totally invested in the game, you know only bad things can happen.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: And I think that's where he got to. He lost the joy of the game in general. I think he worried about his future life and how he was going to feel after that. And because of that, I give him credit. I mean, I really do. That's not an easy decision to make.
PAUL BURMEISTER: I like him more. He was one of my favorite players in the league.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: I like him even more now that I've thought about his reasoning, rationale, and his courage--
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
PAUL BURMEISTER: --to walk away.
CHRIS SIMMS: He could have hung around and--
PAUL BURMEISTER: Course, he could have.
CHRIS SIMMS: --and collected $12 million this year and kind of acted--
PAUL BURMEISTER: I think most people do.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right. He could have maybe even pulled, like, throw me on the IR or the PUP or whatever anything like that to where, OK, and he's still going to collect a check. But you know what? He did the admirable thing. He said, not only am I banged up. I don't really know if I want to do this.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: And I'm never going to get involved in someone's personal life as far as that's concerned. And I hate to see him go, but I totally understand it.
PAUL BURMEISTER: You mentioned that you were disappointed because you're going to miss watching him play.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
PAUL BURMEISTER: One little anecdotal story about Andrew Luck-- I think it was back in 2016. I was out for Football Night in America. And we would go to the late kickoff game, the big game. It was the Andrew Luck against Peyton Manning game.
CHRIS SIMMS: Sure.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And after the game, we've got this little-- could be 20-minute-- it could be a four-minute window to put together a report, interview the star player. Well, the Colts won, so we wanted to talk to Andrew Luck. And it turned out to be the game where he lacerated a kidney.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, right. I remember it.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And also tore something in his abdominal--
CHRIS SIMMS: Had a scramble to his left and took a real big hit. I remember.
PAUL BURMEISTER: He was way beyond banged up. He was injured. We didn't really know it then, but he was. And I was trying to get to Andrew through his PR staff, and they kept saying, no, no, no, no.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
PAUL BURMEISTER: And he was about 20 yards away from me, and he was kind of aware in his periphery, what was going on. And we had about three minutes left until we had to bag it. And Andrew said, guys, no problem. I'll do it. Send Paul over. It's no problem at all.
PR staff apologized. Andrew Luck does the interview, and everything works out only because victorious injured Andrew Luck said, you know what? This is cool. I'm happy to do it.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah. Yeah, well, he's a true professional.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: I mean, I've been around him before too. Like you said, smart, couldn't be kinder, a huge man. I mean, Andrew Luck's--
PAUL BURMEISTER: Giant.
CHRIS SIMMS: --one of those guys. When you see him in person, you go, damn. OK. Now I understand why you're the number one pick. You can run 4.59, and you're this big. He's a special, special skill set.
His measurables at the combine, the closest person we've seen to him, really Cam Newton. That's kind of what he's been. And he played with that type of physicality. But again, it shows you physicality like that, even at the quarterback position, I don't care who you are, Cam Newton or Andrew Luck. If you play that way, your ass is going to get beat down over time. And I think the other crazy thing is his team is finally good.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: And then he's walking away, which is strange. It's the best team he's been a part of.
PAUL BURMEISTER: I know.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right? And early in his greatness, was honestly, like, he was a victim of his own greatness early in his career. I really do believe that. Where OK, he was on a team where he knew he had to push the envelope. Toe the line of reckless. I got to play almost reckless if we want to win.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: Because if I don't stand in the pocket and take that big shot to hit TY Hilton, we're not going to win the game. Or if I don't scramble and roll lower my shoulder, we're not going to beat the Broncos when we're at home against them.
And sometimes that's what happens to the great quarterbacks that are on team less than. I used this example with Florio the other day with Aaron Rodgers the same thing. He's hurt his shoulder a few times. Yeah, think about how he hurt his shoulder. It's in the pocket, dancing around, trying to get away because he knows, damn, if I don't make the play, who's going to?
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: And so then you have to play a different way than maybe compared to, let's just say, Peyton Manning in his prime with the Colts or Tom Brady in his prime with the Patriots, where the team around him was so good. He didn't always have to risk his body because he knew, OK, I'll get another chance to hit Gronk down the middle or something like that.
So all of it is crazy. I also think of the Bruce Arians factor. I look at--
PAUL BURMEISTER: Which is?
CHRIS SIMMS: Well, Bruce is like, stand in there. I mean, he's doing it this year to Jameis Winston. Put weight on. I want to throw the ball down the field.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Big soldier.
CHRIS SIMMS: You're going to get hit. Big soldier.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: I think of Big Ben. He got beat the crap up with Bruce Arians as the OC. And I'm not blaming Bruce Arians here. I'm just trying to point out things that go through my mind football-wise. Carson Palmer got the shit beat out of him at the end out in Arizona.
PAUL BURMEISTER: Right.
CHRIS SIMMS: And Andrew Luck certainly took his beatings there, too, altogether. But it's a shame to see him go nonetheless.
