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Phil Simms

American football player and sportscaster (born 1955)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ596953
Source-derived summary

Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead State Eagles, Simms was selected in the first round by the Giants as the seventh overall pick in the 1979 NFL draft. Simms was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Super Bowl XXI, after he led the Giants to a 39–20 win over the Denver Broncos and set the record for highest completion percentage in a Super Bowl, completing 22 of 25 passes (88%), as well as the highest passer rating in a Super Bowl at 150.9; both of these records still stand. He was also named to the Pro Bowl for his performances in the 1985 and 1993 seasons.

He finished his career with 33,462 passing yards and would go on to be a career broadcaster of NFL games—first as an analyst for ESPN, then as an in-game color commentator with NBC and CBS. He left CBS in 2024. He is the father of former NFL quarterback, assistant coach, and current NFL football analyst Chris Simms and former quarterback Matt Simms.

Early life

Simms was born in Springfield, Kentucky, on his grandfather's farm, a place now called Maple Hill Manor in Washington County, where he attended St. Dominic's Elementary. While in elementary school, his family moved to Louisville and he went to St. Rita Catholic grade school.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Phil Simms” as american football player and sportscaster (born 1955). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phil, Simms and American.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1955, 1979, 1985, 1993—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1954-11-03, 1955-11-03—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Phil, Simms and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Phil Simms”, the useful work is to connect “american football player and sportscaster (born 1955)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q596953. VIAF identifies the subject as 75289810. The Library of Congress control number is n85157726. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1955, 1979, 1985 and 1993.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Phil Simms”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Phil Simms primary sources, Phil Simms archive and Phil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Phil Simms”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Phil Simms” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.