No one knows more about being a struggling quarterback in New York than Giants Ring of Honoree Phil Simms.
Simms was the seventh overall pick in the 1979 NFL draft and it took him practically six whole seasons to finally settle in as the Giants’ starter and begin producing in the manner the club had hoped.
Sound familiar? The Giants hope so. Simms’ NFL journey can be paralleled to that of the teams’ current quarterback, Daniel Jones, who has struggled with injuries and inconsistency in his first five seasons.
It is that journey that has Simms advising both the Giants and Jones to be patient and not do anything rash.
“Unless you are Patrick Mahomes and a few other people, you are going to go through these periods and you just have to fight,” Simms said at the media availability at Super Bowl LVIII on Tuesday, via Newsday.
“Would I have anything to tell Daniel Jones? ‘Hey man, buckle up. It’s going to be rough. Just show how tough you are and do it and just keep working. That’s all you can do.'”
After a grueling start to his career that included crippling injuries, embarrassing outings, and fan resentment, Simms went on to lead the Giants to a Super Bowl championship and have a borderline Hall of Fame career in the process.
He sees Jones as a top talent who could turn things around quickly but he would like to see more energy and leadership out of the former Duke star.
“He definitely has starting NFL talent,” he said. “That’s the one thing I’ll argue against as long as you want.
“I wish he’d yell at somebody sometimes. Is that OK? Not that that makes you a quarterback, but it tells me something about you too. I didn’t do it on the field but poor Bart Oates. He would sit next to me on the bench and I’d go ‘Bart!’ I look back and I go, ‘Why didn’t he punch me?'”
Simms said that it could be tough for Jones to ‘turn into another person’ and become the type of leader he became.
“Why? The media. The fans. The national people who think they know. But I’ve watched him enough and I’ve seen him enough to see the top end,” he said.
Giant fans hope Simms is right.
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