The New England Patriots aren’t the easiest employer to work for. Bill Belichick isn’t the world’s most forgiving boss. Any job for the Patriots is enormously demanding, with crazy hours. The entry-level positions, which have been detailed in a feature by reporter Kevin Duffy, are infamously brutal.
That’s the kind of job Chris Simms was working with New England. The former New York Giants quarterback joined the Patriots as a coaching assistant after retiring as a player. But Simms quickly learned the job wasn’t for him. So he left New England after one season and joined the media.
Here’s some information on that transition from NBC Sports and Michael Holley on Football Morning in America:
Chris spent the 2012 season working for Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels (his coach the last year of his playing career), and the New England Patriots. At that time, Chris and his wife, Danielle, had a 7-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy. “And I had stomach pains because I swear I saw them four nights, total, the entire season,” Chris says. “I felt like I was missing something. I wanted to see my kids grow up.”
Chris thanked Belichick for the opportunity, but told him that he couldn’t continue on the coaching path. Soon, like his father, his job became talking about all the things he saw on film. Like Phil, Chris enjoys letting his film study determine narratives as opposed to going into his study with a preconceived thought.
And it seems like his gig in media is a perfect match, with Simms often setting the NFL conversation on NBC Sports.
