Chris Simms isn’t trolling the New England Patriots, you guys.
Simms joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” on Wednesday afternoon to explain his interesting stance on Deflategate. The former NFL quarterback and current Bleacher Report analyst said that while his opinions sometimes are critical, it isn’t because of any ill will toward the Pats.
“I work really hard at my job, I watch a lot of film every week and I try to give my honest opinion,” Simms said. “I’m not going to give fluff or just the corporate, normal B.S. Hopefully you guys can respect that.
“I know everybody thinks I’m anti-Patriots. I’m really not anti-Patriots. I really like the Patriots. I still have a lot of very close relationships with some of the players and of course the coaching staff. I know it seems that way sometimes. You guys see the videos sometimes I make here at Bleacher Report that can be on the negative side at times.”
Simms said this week he believes the Patriots’ desire to have equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally reinstated shows Brady is guilty of wrongdoing in New England’s Deflategate scandal. Simms’ scorching hot take was met with criticism in many crevices of the Internet, but Simms, who once served as a coaching assistant with the Patriots, stood his ground.
“(Jastremski and McNally) did not just take the fate of the organization into their own hands,” Simms said. “I think I just looked at it from a pure fan standpoint, and then of course just evaluating the situation, and I just said, it makes Brady look guilty in the fact that any time a low-level employee basically damaged the name of their company, they would have been fired if they had done something like that.”
Simms made it clear Wednesday he’s actually “pumped” Brady, whose four-game suspension related to Deflategate was vacated, stood up to the NFL. He even said he wishes Brady played a more prominent role in the players’ collective bargaining agreement negotiations during the NFL lockout. But Simms still has doubts as far as Deflategate goes. For him, some things just don’t add up.
“At the end of the day, listen, I do think (Brady) is guilty. I really do,” Simms said. “Of course, I think he told them to take the air out of the footballs, yes, and I do think that gives you a tactical advantage.
“If it didn’t give you a tactical advantage, then why would we measure the size of quarterbacks’ hands when they come out of the draft every year? Why do we have a high school football? Why do we have a college football, and the different sizes? That was really my point.”
Simms’ stance might seem a little nutty. But, to his credit, he isn’t backing down.
