Former Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms got into an altercation Saturday with another former Super Bowl MVP, Desmond Howard.
Simms didn’t like that Howard had spoken critically of the football skills of one of Simms’ sons (at least Howard didn’t accuse Phil of “laissez-faire” parenting), and Howard didn’t like the way that Simms made it known that he didn’t like it, allegedly threatening to punch Howard. (Simms, without denying a threat to throw a punch, later told Richard Deitsch of SI.com that there was “no chance” of a physical confrontation.)
Simms, who also didn’t like the way Howard made it known that he didn’t like the way that Simms made it known that he didn’t like the criticism of his son, has apologized publicly, via an appearance on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio with Chris Russo.
“It’s over,” Simms said Tuesday, via FOXSports.com. “And, you know, and I’m sorry. I really, I mean this, I’m sorry it happened. I really am because even if it remained private, there’s still nothing gained. So I’ve learned another lesson.”
Simms confronted Howard at the NFL Experience because Howard had make a non-complimentary comment about Matt Simms as part of Howard’s job on ESPN to, you know, comment about college football players. Howard took to Twitter with a blow-by-blow account of the incident, which per Howard nearly came to blows.
In the aftermath, Simms apparently would like to punch Howard for telling the world that Simms allegedly threatened to punch him.
“Well, of course I am,” Simms said, regarding whether he was upset that Howard disclosed the situation. “But it is what it is. It’s a great lesson learned, and of course I’m not excusing myself. You know, I’ve got to know better. It’s a new day and age . . . And, you know, you’ve got to know that I think about those things all the time. It’s just not good on my part, either. I understand that.”
At the risk of finding myself in a future confrontation with Simms, I’m compelled to point out one fact: Phil Simms is 55. He should be old and wise enough to figure out the potential consequences of getting in the face of a member of the media in a public place.