Another Simms takes QB success in stride
Saturday, September 18, 2004
BY MIKE HELFGOT
For the Star-Ledger
He'd be a curiosity anyway, probably always has been.
Sons of Super Bowl MVPs and younger brothers of NFL quarterbacks generally are.
Fair or not, Phil Simms, the former Giants quarterback, and Chris Simms, the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup QB, will always be the measuring sticks for his success.
That's some pressure to saddle on a high school sophomore, but the gene pool that produced another blond-haired, rocket-armed quarterback is just the half of it.
No, Matt Simms is not exactly easing into the footsteps of his famous family members, not as the starting quarterback for the No. 1 team in New Jersey, not with the state's longest winning streak riding on his right arm, and not with his team's arch rival coming to town boasting as much talent as it has had in years.
All eyes will be on Simms tonight as he takes a central role in the state's most heated rivalry when Don Bosco Prep, No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, goes after its 26th victory in a row and eighth straight against the program it supplanted as the state's best, No. 10 Bergen Catholic, in Ramsey.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. before a crowd that could reach as many as 10,000 if weather permits.
At the request of his father, who was also very protective of Chris while he was earning first team All-State honors at Ramapo in 1997 and '98, Matt was not available for interviews this week.
But by all accounts -- including a 158-yard, two-touchdown performance in Don Bosco's season-opening 20-3 victory over St. Anthony of New York last weekend -- Simms is not carrying the burden of his name or a long winning streak on his 6-1, 180-pound frame.
"The other day in practice, he was asking me why all these cameras were here," said Nunzio Campanile, Don Bosco's offensive coordinator. "And I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' I don't think he is looking at himself as a big deal because he hasn't done anything yet.
"He does look at it as a challenge, being the quarterback here, and being Phil's son and Chris' brother. He wants to be a success not because of what people expect but because he wants it himself. He's embarrassed that you guys are writing articles about him because he feels that his teammates have done more than him at this point. When he does something, then he deserves it."
Three inches and 25 pounds ago, Simms looked like a little kid last season during mop-up duty in the second half of lopsided victories, but he gained valuable experience lurking in the shadows of one the most talented teams New Jersey has ever known.
His practice time was spent with Campanile and Mike Teel, a two-time first team All-State quarterback who went out of his way to help Simms -- just as Phil Simms has with Teel.
"Mike was a great influence for him," Campanile said. "Matt really learned how to prepare from Mike, and he is very well prepared for a kid his age. He has worked very hard at understanding what the other team is going to do to him to try to beat him."
"He was shy at first -- I don't know what freshman wouldn't be coming up with the best team in the state -- he just sat back and watched and learned," said Teel, who's now on scholarship at Rutgers. "All the guys accepted him, and it wasn't just the football part. He is a cool kid. He started getting in on the inside jokes and even making fun of the older guys."
Yes, the youngest Simms has the same edgy sense of humor that has helped his father become the lead NFL analyst for CBS.
"He's cocky in a friendly way, but he wouldn't be cocky to someone he doesn't know," said Brian Toal, Don Bosco's two-time All-State linebacker/running back who's now playing as a freshman for Boston College. "When I talk to him about coming to B.C., he says he's going to go someplace better. When I called him to wish him luck before the St. Anthony game, he said 'Don't worry about it.'"
Before he started a varsity game, Rutgers and Boston College offered Matt scholarship -- a byproduct of being a quarterback named Simms. Everyone involved with Don Bosco Prep's program is confident that merit will follow.
"We didn't know it was going to be his job," said Bosco head coach Greg Toal, who was an assistant at Ramapo when Chris Simms played there. "Phil doesn't want him getting any favors. He told me, 'Coach, you have to play the best guy, and if he isn't, then he shouldn't play.' It isn't even close, he's by far the best guy we've got.
"The kid is such a hard worker, and he's made tremendous strides. He's so much better then he was a year ago and he will be that much better a year from now."
