College football fans had plenty to say after Chris Simms weighed in on the hit that sent Oregon quarterback Dante Moore to the hospital during Oregon-USC.
The play itself became the night’s biggest flashpoint when USC linebacker Desman Stephens II delivered the hit that knocked Moore out of the game. Plenty of fans wanted Stephens suspended, or at least ejected. Simms went in a different direction during NBC’s college football halftime coverage, arguing that Moore slid “very late” and put the defender in a tough spot.
“Dante Moore, I do think, slid very late, and put the defender in a kind of no-win situation,” Simms said during the segment.
He also said Stephens and the Trojans appearing to celebrate the hit was a “bad look” for them. But that wasn’t enough to calm down viewers, especially given how many already see Simms as a contrarian voice who tends to stir the pot.
The reaction on X came fast and hard, with some fans flat-out calling for him to be fired.
“Fire Chris Simms for stupidity,” one user declared on X.
“Flop of a take. Is he trying to be hired by ESPN?” asked another.
“Chris Simms can go home,” a third wrote.
“Worse pathetic stupid (expletive) take ever (Simms). Shameful.
Should be removed. Wasn’t late not at all just stupid disgusting.
@NBCSports should be embarrassed with this (expletive) on tv.”
“The most disgusting analysis of a dirty hit I’ve ever seen. Chris Simms should not be allowed back on television.”
There’s a time and place for deep, complicated analysis, but this wasn’t it in the eyes of a lot of fans watching Moore go down. And Simms, for his part, doesn’t seem especially bothered by online backlash, so he’ll likely shrug off the noise and keep it moving.
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