Phil Simms last called a game for NBC on January 25, 1998. Now 27 years later, he will return to the network as a college football analyst this season.
Simms was the lead analyst for the NFL on NBC for several years in the early 1990s before the network lost broadcast rights for the ABC package to CBS. He worked multiple Super Bowls alongside Dick Enberg and Paul Maguire. After the games went to CBS, Simms went with them.
The former Giants quarterback and Super Bowl champion was the lead game analyst for years alongside Greg Gumbel and Jim Nantz before moving to the studio on The NFL Today in 2017 after being replaced by Tony Romo. After the 2023 season, Simms’ contract with CBS was not renewed and he departed the network.
But now the 69-year old will become colleagues with his son Chris as he once again joins NBC Sports. But this time it will be in a new role covering college football.
NBC announced on Tuesday that Phil Simms will work alongside play-by-play announcer Paul Burmeister for three Peacock-exclusive Big Ten telecasts. Those games are Illinois-Western Illinois on Friday, August 29, Rutgers-Miami (OH) on Saturday September 6, and a third game to be determined later.
Chris Simms will also call Big Ten games for NBC and Peacock this season, so it’s not completely out of the question to think that the elder and younger Simms would call that third game together for a unique broadcasting moment.
NBC has not been shy in adding big names to its Big Ten coverage from other networks. The move for Phil Simms is reminiscent of NBC bringing in Jalen Rose as a college basketball analyst after his departure from ESPN. It will be interesting to see if these three games are just meant as a cameo for Phil Simms to help wind down his career in style with more of a sentimental send-off than he got from CBS or if it’s a possible window into a more substantial relationship covering the college game or the NFL.
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