NASHVILLE, Tenn.
After the Giants’ selection of Duke quarterback Daniel Jones was greeted by a chorus of boos and a stream of criticism on talk shows and call-in programs, Phil Simms heard from plenty of friends and acquaintances wondering if he felt the same way when his name was called in the 1979 draft.
“No, I didn’t,” Simms recalled of the moment he was welcomed to the NFL. “Ours wasn’t on TV, and the scrutiny isn’t what we have now.”
There were only about 200 fans who heard commissioner Pete Rozelle announce Simms’ name in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria on May 3, 1979.