Retired New York Giants QB Phil Simms reflects on his career and Super Bowls, and recalls being starstruck as a rookie facing the Steelers.
It doesn’t take much to get former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms to open up about his career.
The Super Bowl XXI Most Valuable Player appeared on the podcast Games With Names, hosted by another Super Bowl MVP — Julian Edelman — and comedian Sam Morril, this week to talk about his career and the Super Bowl.
Simms played 15 seasons for Big Blue from 1979 through 1993 and was the seventh overall selection out of Morehead State in the 1979 NFL draft.
At the time, Simms’ selection was a surprise but on this show, he revealed the Giants had told him weeks before they were going to draft him.
“Back then, thank God, ESPN and everybody weren’t going over every player so the fans really didn’t know the players. I wasn’t surprised I went seventh,” Simms said.
“There was talk of you going earlier,” Morril questioned.
“No, I think I knew all the teams that were probably going to draft me, and I knew the Giants. They basically said two weeks before the draft ‘We’re taking you!’ They told my coach that too,” Simms said.
Years later, it was revealed that San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh also coveted Simms but did not have a first-round draft pick that year having traded it away to Buffalo for O.J. Simpson.
Simms’ career didn’t fully get off the ground until 1984 due to injuries and inconsistent play. In the beginning, it did not go smoothly for him. He recalled being starstruck in a preseason game against Pittsburgh in his rookie year.
“I get under the center and there’s Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood. It was unbelievable…it was eight Hall of Famers. I have great stories about that game, but there’s me and Joe Greene. Let’s stop the game because I need some autographs. I idolized Terry Bradshaw growing up and there I was playing against him,” he said.
Simms went on to rave about the great Lawrence Taylor, who the Giants drafted second overall in 1981. Taylor made an immediate impact on the club.
“His rookie year, we had a scrimmage,” said Simms. “They had to take him out after ten plays. Had to take him out. He was sacking the quarterback every play. And I go, this guy is really everything they said he was.”
Simms was known for his public ‘debates’ with Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, a person who still has a huge impact on his life.
“He yelled at you and then he would allow you to yell back if you knew the situation was right, and everybody on the team would laugh,” recalled Simms. “It was his way of sending a message to the whole team through players and he was great at that. He was the greatest manipulator of people I’ve ever been around in my life.”
Simms led the Giants to a 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI and recalled the 1986 NFC Championship Game in the wind at Giants Stadium — a 17-0 win over Washington.
“Washington Redskins at the time made a huge mistake. We kicked the field goal on our first drive, it was third-and-long, we had a penalty, and we had to kick another field goal. Joe Gibbs accepted it to take us out of field goal range, he thought. Well, the next play I threw it down the middle for a huge gain, got a first down and we scored. Literally, that was the game. It was over in the first quarter,” he said.
Simms is currently a studio analyst for CBS Sports.
Giants legend Lawrence Taylor revealed his list of the top 5 greatest defenders of all time and some commissions are causing controversy.
Retired New York Giants legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Lawrence Taylor, appeared on “I Am Athlete” over the weekend and was asked to name his top five defenders of all time.
Before L.T. could spit out a name, the panel immediately insisted he top the list. That left Taylor with four more spots to fill.
Lawrence Taylor gives his Top 5 defensive players of all-time: 1. LT 2. Reggie White 3. Deacon Jones 4. Deion Sanders 5. Ronnie Lott Noticeably missing: Aaron Donald 🫣 Watch & Subscribe → https://t.co/JuFhDfdy57pic.twitter.com/q5l44RJ89U
“Reggie White. Deacon Jones,” Taylor said to the surprise of Brandon Marshall and others. “Do you know how many people he made deaf with that hand slap to the ear and stuff?”
Taylor continued by listing Deion Sanders and Ronnie Lott. The omission of players like Ray Lewis and Aaron Donald instantly caused some controversy.
“I’ll put them on the list if y’all want me to,” Taylor said sarcastically.
Even prior to his retirement, Taylor often praised White, Jones and Lott. He’s repeatedly named them among his top five greatest of all time but the inclusion of Sanders is relatively new.
Lawrence Taylor doesn’t see Aaron Donald as a top-5 defender of all time, but he does have one former Ram up there
Aaron Donald is already a lock for the Hall of Fame. He could retire tomorrow and make it to Canton as a first-ballot selection in 2028. Not only is he a nine-time Pro Bowler, seven-time first-team All-Pro and Super Bowl champion, but he’s done something only Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt have accomplished: win Defensive Player of the Year three times.
But if you ask Taylor where Donald ranks among the best defenders of all time, he wouldn’t put the Rams superstar in the top five. Taylor said on the “i am athlete” podcast that he would “absolutely” put Donald in the conversation as the best defender ever, but he then proceeded to give his top five – sans Donald and with himself as No. 1.
“Reggie White, Deacon Jones. If you’re calling all positions, yeah, I gotta put (Deion Sanders) up there, too. Of course, Deion Sanders. Probably No. 4. I like Ronnie Lott. I think Ronnie Lott is a hell of a player,” Taylor said.
Taylor wasn’t throwing shade at Donald or saying he isn’t one of the best players ever. He just believes there have been five players with stronger resumes than him.
It is interesting that he picked Deacon Jones, who probably doesn’t get as much praise and attention as he should. He played before sacks were an official stat, but he was constantly taking down the quarterback.
According to Pro Football Reference’s unofficial stat list, Jones ranks third all-time with 173.5 sacks. That’s more than Donald’s 103 and Taylor’s 142. Only Bruce Smith and Reggie White, who had 200 and 198 sacks, respectively, rank higher on the list than Jones.
Donald plans to play in 2023, so he can still bolster his resume further in the next year – or however long he wants to keep rushing the quarterback. But even without another Pro Bowl or All-Pro season, Donald is up there as an all-time great.
New York Giants pass rushing legend Lawrence Taylor joined the many G-Men faithful who were severely bummed by the team’s first-half performance against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
Philly came out swinging against New York during the NFC divisional round game, notching a 28-0 lead at half.
The Giants seemed to have no answer for the Eagles in any phase of the game, leading many to wonder what happened to the Giants team last week that edged a stout Minnesota Vikings team.
Taylor took to Twitter and had the perfect response to the debacle that his old team had gotten themselves in against Philadelphia.
L.T. hasn’t played football since 1993, and his Hall of Fame career won’t help the Giants dig themselves out of the deep hole they got themselves in against the Eagles.
The Giants have had a good first season against Brian Daboll, but losing in a playoff game to a rival this badly will even get the franchise legends wondering what the heck is going on.
Bill Belichick had high praise for Matthew Slater on Friday.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick does not often praise players. So it’s always worth noting when he does, especially when he makes the caliber of comparison he did on Friday.
The coach compared special teams ace Matthew Slater to Giants great Lawrence Taylor.
Slater has played in the organization for 15 seasons. He has shown no signs of slowing down, as he has recorded 12 special teams tackles on the year, which is second on the team.
It’s been quite the journey for Slater, who started his career with New England in 2008. He has since compiled a career that has included three Super Bowl rings, in addition to 10 Pro Bowl selections. He was also named to the Patriots All-2010’s team.
This is certainly high praise for Slater, as Taylor is an NFL Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Nevertheless, Belichick was not shy on praise Friday, as transcribed by Zack Cox of NESN.com
“He’s the guy that everybody pays a lot of attention to,” said Belichick. “To the benefit of other players; they get less attention. But I think when you see players at that level — different, but literally, he gets it on every play. Just like Taylor got it on every play for the Giants. When you get that kind of attention and you’re still able to be productive, that tends to put those players on a very elite level.”
Slater will have a chance to add to his resume this Sunday when the New England Patriots take on the Buffalo Bills. If the Patriots win, they will make it into the playoffs. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET.
Movies made about football often try to inspire the same feeling you get when you watch the actual game.
Filmmakers want to make you feel like you’re sitting in the stands, watching your favorite athletes compete for sports’ glory. They want to capture the joys of victory, the agonies of defeat, the warmth of sportsmanship, the endurance of brotherhood and all the fixin’s in between the hash marks.
No football movie ever made people feel like they needed a hot shower like Oliver Stone’s smash-bang trash epic Any Given Sunday.
Some movies, like Kevin Costner’s Draft Day, sought to make the NFL Draft feel like a Michael Bay movie’s worth of explosive intrigue. Other movies, like the Keanu Reeves comedy, The Replacements, wanted to buffet the classic underdog story with humor and locker room platitudes. “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever,” quoth Shane Falco.
You want a touching story about a high school football team overcoming the odds? Remember the Titans and We Are Marshall have your back. You want a far-fetched comedy that hinges on the stranger parts of the sport? Look for The Longest Yard and The Waterboy. Aching for something that makes you remember your heydays on the gridiron? Varsity Blues and Friday Night Lights fly off the shelves. Want to watch a dog go wide to win a football game? Meet Air Bud: Golden Receiver.
The list goes on and on: Rudy, Jerry Maguire, The Blind Side, North Dallas Forty, Invincible, Little Giants, Brian’s Song, The Game Plan, Leatherheads, The Last Boy Scout, Heaven Can Wait, insert your favorite here.
Some of those movies are fantastic. Some of those movies suck. However, they all have something usually in common. They don’t make you feel guilt.
Every now and then, a football movie will emerge from the tunnel and make you feel a little weird about your unfettered love of the sport. The Will Smith-starrer Concussion dealt with the rash of CTE that spread through the league and the NFL’s attempt to smooth it over. Patton Oswalt’s Big Fan dealt with the unhealthier sides of fandom and hero worship. James Caan’s The Program tried to show the darker sides of what can happen in a locker room. Last year’s overlooked National Champions imagined a world where two star players refused to play in a title game because of the NCAA’s regressive labor rules.
However, there’s nothing like Any Given Sunday.
(Warner Bros.)
Stone’s frenzied satire of the NFL continues to be the electrifying epitaph to a game that will, in all likelihood, one day crumble under the weight of its gladiator mentality. The JFK and Born on the Fourth of July filmmaker saw in 1999 a truth that still evades most of the league. Football, as exciting and financially lucrative as it is, is a barbaric, scuzzy contest of blood, sweat and tears that wears its athletes down to a fine powder and rewards their sacrifice with fleeting fame and glory.
While the game has shaped itself up a bit since Stone’s Miami Sharks took the field, the scathing satire he unearthed with Any Given Sunday continues to be prescient. It’s why this is the best movie ever made about football. It grits its teeth to tell you uncomfortable truths.
The film dramatizes a fictional Sharks, an organization on the decline with a legendary coach (Al Pacino’s Tony D’Amato) and new ownership (Cameron Diaz’s Christina Pagniacci). Stone’s NFL locker room isn’t the rah-rah den of sentiment seen in other films. It’s somewhere between a party bus and a wrestling ring, equal parts fearsome and debaucherous. On top of the Pacino and Diaz clash, Stone adds on a classic trope – a third-string quarterback takes to water after his improbable game play – and gives it a stylized edge.
The film deals with the uglier sides of professional sports –coaching/ownership struggles, Shakespearean togglings for power, ethical dilemmas around concussions and prescription drugs, the decline of careers in a sport ready to discard anyone not maximizing their contracts.
There aren’t many heroes in Stone’s NFL. D’Amato isn’t your typical inspirational sports movie coach, far more a foul-mouthed hot-head. Pagniacci is a power player ready to cut throats and ignore criminal activity to win games. Jamie Foxx’s underdog quarterback Willie Beamen is an arrogant jerk that’s hard to root for. James Woods’ Dr. Harvey Mandrake is the shady team doctor ready to carry out Pagniacci’s edict to put players in harm’s way. Only Dennis Quaid’s aging quarterback Jack Rooney and Lawrence Taylor (yes, that L.T.) fading linebacker Luther Lavay are easy to sympathize with.
Stone’s ability to wring the skeeze out of a multi-billion dollar enterprise wasn’t a surprise. Early in his career, Stone had as good of a knack as any to challenge powerful American enterprises with a lot of flash and substance. Filmmaker Adam McKay’s jump from studio comedies to sociopolitical satires owes a lot to Stone’s smash-edit, in-your-face style.
With Any Given Sunday, Stone took on the shield with a rusty dagger. It’s one of the bravest sports films of all time, if only because it actually tries to excavate the ugly realities behind the most popular sport in America. It’s a marvelous breakdown of football from all angles, so gloriously overwrought in a way that captures nearly everything about the sport that makes it such a strange, difficult, dirty, addictive monster.
(Robert Zuckerman Warner Bros.)
That’s the catch, isn’t it? Even when we know about all the hazards and unethical dealings, we still tune in every week, amazed at what we’re watching. It’s a drug, just like any other larger-than-life spectacle. Stone isn’t trying to vilify football fans as much as pick up the big rock and show its supporters all the worms and grubs slithering around underneath.
There is a reason the film has stayed around as it has. Former NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings told Sports Illustratedthat the film wasn’t that too far off from how the actual game plays out week-by-week.
“A lot of components in that movie that are just flat-out real,” Jennings said (via Slashfilm). “The concept of not playing, guys getting hurt, you being inserted, guys shooting up, doing whatever it takes to stay on the football field, getting the big hit, letting winning and their individual success divide them from the guys in the locker room, it happens!”
“The NFL was very nasty. They hated the script,” Stone told Entertainment Weekly in a 2020 oral history of the film. “They tried to kill the deal by telling players not to be involved.”
Notorious Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had to step in to help Stone even get a stadium to film in.
“We barely got the stadiums. Jerry Jones helped by telling them to f*** off and giving us Texas Stadium. It was a fight all the way,” Stone said in the EW piece. “And then when the film came out, the NFL went out of its way to completely blackball us. There was no coverage from the sports shows. It was not fun to fight them, it’s like fighting the Pentagon.”
The fact that the NFL got so up-in-arms about the film’s release speaks volumes. Not much scares the NFL, but Stone’s film did. It spoke truth to power, even when that truth was spiked with the most noxious concoction known to man.
Any Given Sunday is the best-ever football movie because it’s actually about football, and not the other way around. It’s decorated with a black eye and grass stains, but it’s never afraid to get back in the huddle. It’s one of the few sports movies to ever look the beast in the eyes instead of give it a belly rub.
New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor says it’s time for the team’s defense to step up and shut down the Washington Commanders in Week 15.
The New York Giants head into Sunday night’s showdown against the Washington Commanders having won just once over their last six games.
Washington, on the other hand, has lost just once over their last eight outings and have pulled even with the Giants in the NFC playoff standings with a 7-5-1 record.
The Giants’ swoon has been due to a complete collapse of quality in all three phases of the game. Their offense is struggling, the special teams have suffered because of the lack of depth on the roster and the defense has been ravaged by injuries.
But it’s the defense that the Giants need to step back up over the next few weeks if they are to make a run here. Former Giants great Lawrence Taylor has some words of wisdom for these Giants as they head into Washington this week.
“It’s a prime-time game, the playoffs are on the line. You just said everything you need to know about that game. Everything else is just preparation. Let’s do this, OK? Let’s do this. You already know what’s at stake, all right? If you can’t play when everything you ever dreamed of and everything that you want is put into one game, if you can’t rise to that challenge, then what’s left?
“These games define who you are.”
Taylor knows a thing or two about going down to the Nation’s Capital and winning key football games. He did it repeatedly during the Giants’ heyday of the 1980s.
“In the course of the game there’s only seven-10 plays that make a difference,” Taylor said. “And you sit there and say, ‘Somebody gotta do something, they’re kicking our (expletive) and (expletive) like that. You know what? The person that stands up and says, ‘Hey, OK, I’ll volunteer. I’ll do it,’ those are the guys to make it happen. Those are the guys that’s going to have notoriety in the league and stuff because when there’s a play to be made, they don’t designate it to somebody else. They do it themselves.
“I wanted to be that person to make the play, so that’s what I’m gonna do. And if I made the play, all the spoils come to me. Seize the opportunity to show what you are all about. Do or die, who’s gonna stand up and make the play?”
The Giants will need to step up and win a signature game of their own here if they are serious about playing deep into January. It starts with the defense.
“I just can’t practice like I used to. Everything hurts when I swing.”
BOCA RATON, Fla. — At 63, Lawrence Taylor still knows how to deliver a shot.
On Wednesday, he was hitting golf balls instead of quarterbacks.
The NFL Hall of Fame outside linebacker played in the TimberTech Championship’s PNK DRV Pro-Am at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club.
“I play golf almost every day,” he said. “I’m retired. There’s nothing else for me to do but play golf.”
Taylor said he plays to a handicap of 5, but admits his best days on the course are in the past. That’s because he now feels like some of the quarterbacks he leveled over the years.
“I used to be really good,” Taylor said of his golf game. “I just can’t practice like I used to. Everything hurts when I swing.”
That doesn’t stop Taylor, who was wearing a diamond-encrusted “LT” earring, from having fun on the golf course. Even when he’s having a bad hole.
Such was the case at No. 18 Wednesday. His tee shot on the par 5 landed in the right rough. There was a large tree in front of him.
“I’ve got no shot,” he said.
Sure enough, the ball smacked into the middle of the tree and ricocheted right, hitting one of the multi-million-dollar homes at Royal Palm, the ball bouncing on the upstairs balcony before it came to rest.
At some point, the residents will realize they have a souvenir outside their back door. The ball says “56 LT” on it.
“I’m quite sure there are a few people out here looking to sue me,” Taylor said, laughing. “I hit a couple balls on people’s balcony today.”
Green Bay Packers quarterback Lynn Dickey is grabbed by New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor during a game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the 1985 season. (Photo: Green Bay Press-Gazette Film / USA TODAY Network)
Paul Stankowski, the professional who was paired with Taylor, thought he was in luck when he saw one of his amateur players was listed simply as “LT.”
“He’s a great guy, lots of fun,” Stankowski said. “He’s a good player. For a big guy, he’s got really good hands. He has a good short game and feel with the putter.
“His swing is a little short, but obviously his body has been through the ringer. He delivers the club into the ball solidly and he’s long enough.”
It’s been almost 30 years since Taylor stopped terrorizing NFL quarterbacks, having spent his entire 13-year career (1981-93) with the New York Giants. Taylor was three-time Defensive Player of the Year, an honor he now shares with J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald.
LT has started following the Giants again
Taylor said he hasn’t kept up with the Giants in recent years because of their constant struggles, but is “actually back to watching some of their games” after a 6-2 start this season.
“They are exciting,” Taylor said. “The defense plays ball, and the offense is doing better. I just hope they can keep it up.”
Other celebrities playing in the TimberTech Championship’s pro-am Wednesday were former Florida Panthers No. 1 pick Ed Jovanovski, former Panthers GM Dale Talon and IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood.
The TimberTech Championship, the second of three PGA Tour Champions playoff events, is Friday through Sunday. Steven Alker is the defending champion.
At edge rusher, the choice was an easy one — New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. That is because Taylor was the first player to be called an edge rusher. He wasn’t really just an edge rusher, however. LT was more like a force of nature. He simply took over games.
Jeff Legwold said it all:
Taylor announced himself to the league as a rookie in 1981 with 133 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 8 pass knockdowns, 2 forced fumbles and an interception and won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. There are many around the league who say Taylor changed the way people thought pass-rushers could be used in a defense. Taylor’s best season came in 1986, when he led the league in sacks (20.5), won MVP and earned his third Defensive Player of the Year award.
All of the experts polled are all younger than me, so I will chime in with my take. Forget the numbers. The guy was unlike anything anyone had ever seen in this league. He was operating on a higher level — like a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky or even a Babe Ruth.
To illustrate how special Taylor was, they are still looking for the next “L.T.” 41 years later. No one has come close.
The Giants were a sorry excuse for a franchise in 1981 when they selected Taylor second overall in the NFL draft. All of a sudden, they became relevant, qualifying for the postseason for the first time in 18 seasons and his presence was the reason why.
From there, the Giants built their team around Taylor — a defensive player — which was unheard of and became champions, something none of us who endured the ‘wilderness’ of the 1960s and 70s thought we’d ever see.
Trump will play alongside Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau on Thursday.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — The LIV Golf Invitational Series at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster has some big names scheduled for Thursday’s pro-am, including the club’s namesake.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump will tee it up alongside Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in the first group out at 10 a.m. ET. Other celebrities joining the mix will be media personality and former Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner, football Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Brian Urlacher as well as basketball legend Charles Barkley. The rest of the pro-am participants have yet to be announced.
Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star and current TNT analyst, has been flirting with the idea of joining the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed series as a broadcaster over the last few weeks. The fan-favorite with the wonky swing even gave the series an ultimatum for an offer, saying, “When I leave New Jersey Thursday night, when I leave the golf course, if I don’t have an offer in hand, it’s over.”
Last week Barkley met with Norman for dinner in Atlanta to discuss what his role would be with LIV.
The series, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
