The Davey O’Brien Legends Award recipient is very familiar to football fans in Dallas and Fort Worth.
The Davey O’Brien Foundation announced that Phil Simms, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants and longtime NFL broadcaster, will be honored at the Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 21 at the Fort Worth Club.
The Legends Award recognizes a college or professional quarterback who has made a significant contribution to the game of football, distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader and demonstrated exemplary conduct both on and off the football field.
A Super Bowl XXI and XXV champion with the New York Giants, Simms was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXI. In that game, he completed 22-of-25 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in a 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Over his 15-year career, all with the Giants, Simms appeared in 164 games. He finished with 2,576 completions for 4,647 yards and 199 touchdowns. Simms’ No. 11 is retired by the Giants, and he is a member of the organization’s Ring of Honor.
Simms was named All-Pro in 1986 by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. In addition, he was a Pro Bowl selection in 1985 and 1993. Simms was tabbed to the All-Rookie Team in 1979 and was the runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, finishing second to Ottis Anderson, a future Super Bowl-winning teammate.
The native of Springfield, Ky., was a first-round pick (seventh overall) by the Giants in the 1979 NFL Draft after playing collegiately at Morehead State.
He went four picks after Jack Thompson of Washington State, the first quarterback selected in the draft and generally rated the top QB prospect that year.
Newspaper reports of that day suggested that the choice was a clear indication that new head coach Ray Perkins and new general manager George Young were not overjoyed with the quarterbacks they had inherited.
“The Giants’ passing game was rated ‘no better than a junior high school team’s,’ according to one scouting report.”
“Thompson-Simms, Simms-Thompson,” Jerry Shay, the Giants chief scout, said at the time. “We had them rated about even.”
Most scouting reports rated Simms the second or third best quarterback prospect in 1979, but the Giants got the right one. Thompson played parts of six seasons, passing for 5,313 yards and 33 TDs.
“I think Phil Simms, at some point in time, has a chance to be a great quarterback,” said Perkins at the time.
Since 1998, Simms has been a member of the broadcast team for CBS Sports. He began as a game analyst on the network’s No. 1 broadcast team before becoming a studio analyst on the NFL Today. Before that, Simms spent three seasons with NBC Sports. In all, he has called eight Super Bowls.
Previous winners of the O’Brien Legends Award include Steve Bartkowski, Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Dan Fouts, Bob Griese, Paul Hornung, Ron Jaworski, Jim Kelly, Eddie LeBaron, Archie Manning, Jim McMahon, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Craig Morton, Jim Plunkett, Steve Spurrier, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Joe Theismann and Doug Williams.
At the awards dinner, Simms will be joined in being honored with this year’s Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award winner, Bryce Young of Alabama, and high school scholarship recipient Kenaj Washington of Kennedale High School.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The Davey O’Brien Award honors candidates who exemplify Davey O’Brien’s enduring character while exhibiting teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in both academics and athletics.
Past winners
1981 Jim McMahon, BYU
1982 Todd Blackledge, Penn State
1983 Steve Young, BYU
1984 Doug Flutie, Boston College
1985 Chuck Long, Iowa
1986 Vinny Testaverde, Miami
1987 Don McPherson, Syracuse
1988 Troy Aikman, UCLA
1989 Andre Ware, Houston
1990-91 Ty Detmer, BYU
1992 Gino Torretta, Miami
1993 Charlie Ward, Florida State
1994 Kerry Collins, Penn State
1995-96 Danny Wuerffel, Florida
1997 Peyton Manning, Tennessee
1998 Michael Bishop, Kansas State
1999 Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech
2000 Chris Weinke, Florida State
2001 Eric Crouch, Nebraska
2002 Brad Banks, Iowa
2003-04 Jason White, Oklahoma
2005 Vince Young, Texas
2006 Troy Smith, Ohio State
2007 Tim Tebow, Florida
2008 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
2009 Colt McCoy, Texas
2010 Cam Newton, Auburn
2011 Robert Griffin III, Baylor
2012 Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
2013 Jameis Winston, Florida State
2014 Marcus Mariota, Oregon
2015-16 Deshaun Watson, Clemson
2017 Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
2018 Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
2019 Joe Burrow, LSU
2020 Mac Jones, Alabama