Chris Simms accepted money from alumni at Texas

Former Texas Longhorns quarterback Chris Simms admitted to taking money for autographs from alumni while in college.

Chris Simms hasn’t been on an NFL roster since 2010. Given that it’s been half a decade since he’s played at the professional level, it’s obviously been a while (13 years to be exact) since the now 34-year-old was quarterbacking the Texas Longhorns. However, his time as a Longhorn is certainly something to talk about now.

While filling in as a co-host for CBSSports Radio’s Tiki and Tierney, Simms talked about college football players taking money from alumni and boosters. As a part of that discussion, Simms himself admitted to taking “a few $100 handshakes” from alumni in exchange for signing autographs. Here’s the segment where Simms’ admission occurred:

Simms also basically snitched on other players at Texas during his time there for taking money, though he didn’t name them. Simms also inferred that those players were taking more than just a few $100 handshakes for autographs and may have actually been getting paid to play.

Two things from Simms’ admission stand out in a major way. First is something that Simms even said. As the son of former NFL quarterback Phil Simms, when he went to Texas he certainly wasn’t left wanting for anything. His family had the money to provide for him in a big way as he “grew up with a silver spoon.” However, Simms said that, as a kid in college, getting a few Franklins in his pocket just for signing autographs was great.

Given the fact that we’ve seen players like Johnny Manziel—who also had a wealthy family behind him—have been in the heart of autograph scandals, Simms’ admission pretty much discounts the argument of “well he has wealthy parents so he wouldn’t take money from alumni.” Wealthy or not, these are college kids and getting a few hundred dollars is a big deal to a young person in that situation.

The second thing that lingers from Simms’ admission is that he wasn’t exactly a huge star. He earned some honors playing for the Longhorns, but there was never a time where he was the center of college football’s attention.

Saying Simms’ wasn’t a huge deal or a superstar in college isn’t to knock him, but rather part of a larger point that paying players happens to various degrees to literally anyone putting on a uniform at one of these big-time football schools. Simms’ autograph was worth a $100 handshake because he was the quarterback of Texas. Nothing beyond that mattered.

It shouldn’t be surprising that this is happening because, unless you’re wearing blinders, it’s been obvious for a while that this is a part of college football and has been for a while. It happened before Simms was playing, while Simms was playing, and after Simms was playing. Though change regarding compensation could come eventually, we have to assume that $100 handshakes won’t be stopping anytime soon, either.

H/T to Eye On College Football

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