Chris Simms lands football analyst gig at CBS: Report

Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms will continue following in his father Phil's footsteps and into the TV booth for CBS this fall.

Simms — who played in parts of five seasons for the Buccaneers, Titans and Broncos, but never fully recovered from a life-threatening ruptured spleen early in the 2006 season — will be analyzing three relatively low-profile games for the network, beginning with the Titans-Bengals matchup in Week 3.

The 34-year-old New Jersey native has never worked a minute in the booth of an NFL game but did work a few college games for Fox last season.

But dad thinks his son is a natural and has a lot of football knowledge under that shock of familial blond hair.

"I think he has great potential,"' Phil said. "He was raised to do it in this way. Him, me, my wife, anyone who walks into our house, most likely the conversation is going to center around football and we're going to talk about it. That's the way we've been our whole lives."

CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus went even further: "He's better looking and more articulate than his father is; he got his good looks from his mother . . . We're starting him very slowly on a few small games and we'll see how he grows, but he's got a great football mind and has worked not only as a player but as an assistant coach also." 

Simms had worked as a coaching and scouting assistant for the Patriots, but with two young children he sought a more family-friendly schedule. 

"I struggled with that," he said. "I was offered another job in the NFL, and that sparked a discussion with my wife: Are we going to live this life and move every two or three years to climb the ladder? This is a little more stable.

"My kids can grow up. This is still work. but I get home at a decent hour and see my kids every night."

Younger Simms' current job is as an analyst for Bleacher Report so he's knows what is going on around the league.

"I have to know everybody," he said. "I really know, I'm not going to say everything, but a lot about every team."

The big question remaining now is whether or not he'll say Redskins?