The Simms boys love Matthew Stafford. Really, really love him. Former NFL quarterback and NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms is such a fan that he said this summer 'it drives me crazy' that Stafford doesn't get more respect.
"He makes so many freaking plays and throws that change the game and I go, 'Wow, it's just unbelievable.' They just don’t always capitalize because they’re not a great team up there in Detroit," Simms said. "Matthew Stafford, I'm a huge fan. He's going to be one of these guys, he'll be under-appreciated forever in the lore of the NFL."
Not be outdone by his son, Phil Simms called Stafford a 'Super Bowl quarterback' in a recent interview with the Free Press. Stafford has three playoff appearances and zero playoff wins in his 12-year career, but Simms believes the former first overall pick has lived up to expectations.
"Hey, he worked. That’s the thing now. He worked. He’s been a Super Bowl quarterback," said Simms, who quarterbacked the Giants to two Super Bowls over his 14-year career. "He’s just not playing with a Super Bowl team. Did you ever go into a year and say, ‘Man, Detroit can win it all this year?’ Have you ever even mentioned that? No.”
Fair point. The counterpoint might be that Stafford's one of the reasons why, that he's never been good enough to make the Lions a contender on his own. Simms, a longtime analyst for the NFL on CBS, isn't buying it.
"Stafford’s talent is up there with almost anybody that’s ever played quarterback,” he said. "That’s it, period.”
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He went so far as to put Stafford in the same conversation as two-time (and perhaps soon-to-be three-time) MVP Aaron Rodgers.
“He is so close to Aaron Rodgers, it’s incredible. I mean, they’re really close in talent," Simms said. "Does (Rodgers) make more plays than Stafford given the opportunities? I don’t know. Listen, I’m just telling you he is a Super Bowl-talented quarterback, and if he’s in the right situation, he can lead them there with no question in my mind. I’m completely convinced of it."
For that reason, Simms hopes the Lions send Stafford elsewhere this offseason.
“I hope they get rid of him and I hope he lands with a really good team and he’s going to lead them to the Super Bowl," Simms said. "That’s what I hope. I really do for him."
And Simms is confident that "it will happen."
“And then the people in Detroit will just go, ‘Wow. We miss Matt Stafford. He was really good.’ If he gets in the right situation — I’m not going to tell you who I think he’s going to — but I have a very strong suspicion that he’s going to go somewhere really good.”