Broncos QB derby not over yet for Simms
By Chris Tomasson 
| July 28, 2009 | 11:09 AM
Chris Simms has battled for a starting quarterback job throughout his career, and it's no different this season with the Broncos. (Photo from Newscom)
Chris Simms won’t read this article. But that’s nothing against the Rocky Mountain Independent.
It seems the Broncos quarterback won’t be checking out any Colorado media this season. No local newspapers or Web sites. No local television stations.
“Nothing personal, but I won’t be reading any of your columns during the season or anything like that,” he said of the RMI. “Nothing local. If I watch a sports show, I watch national sports because I don’t want to see anything about, ‘Chris Simms. Kyle Orton. Chris did good today. Chris did bad today.’ I don’t want to hear it. I won’t pick up (a local newspaper). I’m pretty disciplined. I’ll pick up the USA Today.”
But before Simms spends too much time these days making sure he has four quarters for the USA Today machine, he has much more important business on his mind.
Yes, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has called Orton his starting quarterback for now. But there’s a long way to go before the regular season begins Sept. 13 at Cincinnati, and McDaniels said plenty could change by then.
“He doesn’t have to play out of his mind,” McDaniels said when asked if Simms has to do just that to win the job in training camp, which got under way Monday for quarterbacks, rookies and injured players and Friday for everyone else. “We’re going to evaluate the quarterbacks just like we do every other position. If Chris is the most effective quarterback in our system by September, then he’ll start.”
So perhaps, despite McDaniels’ declaration last month that Orton had moved to No. 1, there will be a spirited quarterback derby during Broncos training camp. And Simms knows a thing about such battles.
Simms, entering his seventh season, was Tampa Bay’s starter in 2005 and to begin 2006 before he suffered a ruptured spleen, an injury that knocked him out for all of 2007. In his other seasons, Simms battled for jobs and lost.
Then there’s Phil Simms, his legendary quarterback father. Even the elder Simms, who played from 1979-93, found himself in a much-publicized early 1990s New York Giants quarterback battle with Jeff Hostetler that he lost.
What advice does dad give about handling quarterback controversies?
“The one thing I can say that I learned from my dad’s experience with the whole quarterback thing is just don’t pay any attention to it, the (junk in the media),” Simms said.
Phil Simms is now a member of the media himself as a CBS analyst.
But the younger Simms said he couldn’t help hearing about it when Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN analyst Steve Young questioned Simms’ mental toughness in 2005. Young said Simms grew up in a “laissez-faire kind of atmosphere” as the son of a star.
Phil Simms blasted Young, saying his son is plenty tough and wasn’t raised in a cushy environment. The son said the matter has long been closed.
“Steve apologized many times to me,” said Simms, signed by the Broncos in March as a free agent. “I don’t think he meant it to come out quite the way he did, and, even so, everybody is entitled to their opinion. And I understand that, and I’ve never taken it personally.”
If Young were to sound off on the Broncos’ quarterback derby, Simms might hear about it. After all, he said he does watch national sports shows.
For now, though, Simms must focus on winning the starting job.
“It really doesn’t change anything,” Simms said about Orton entering camp at the top of the depth chart. “My approach is going to be the same day in, day out, whether I take the first three reps of practice or the second, four through six.”
But for Orton, acquired in the controversial April trade with Chicago in which the Broncos dispatched Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler, being No. 1 does change things.
Like Simms, Orton knows what it’s like to be both a starter and to carry a clipboard. He was the Bears’ starter as a rookie in 2005 and in 2008, but mostly watched in 2006 and 2007, including not getting into a single game in the 2006 season in which Chicago advanced to the Super Bowl.
“Obviously, it helps to be able to get the majority of the reps and get the reps that I need,” Orton said of entering camp as the starter. “So that’s great to be the face in the huddle and try to develop that leadership role starting right now. So I was happy with the timing (of McDaniels’ decision).”
Even though Orton is No. 1 and Simms No. 2, they have something in common. Neither will be asking the other if he has a copy of a local sports section.
“I don’t read a whole lot about anything media-wise,” Orton said on the heels of Simms saying he stays away from media discussion of quarterback battles. “My job is to show up and work as hard as I can, and that’s what I try to do every day.”
Unlike Simms, it sounds as if Orton won’t even seek out USA Today.
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