MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Former Morehead State University Eagle football player Phil Simms will be one of six to be inducted in the 2011 class of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. The announcement was made Friday (Feb. 4) during a press conference in Lexington.
“Phil had a great career at Morehead State and a super professional career,” said Brian Hutchinson, MSU Director of Athletics. “He has brought so much attention to this University and its football program. He is a great selection to the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Simms may be the best known Eagle athletic alumnus.
A four-year letterman, Simms was the Ohio Valley Conference’s (OVC) Offensive Player of the Year in 1977, and finished his MSU career with 5,545 passing yards and 32 touchdowns.
After his playing days at Morehead State, he was the New York Giants' first selection (seventh overall) in the 1979 NFL Draft.
Simms enjoyed a 15-year NFL career and when retired held 19 team records.
As an All-Pro quarterback, he led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles. He completed 22 of 25 passes in Super Bowl XXI, defeating the Denver Broncos, 39-20, to give the Giants their first Super Bowl title and earning him MVP honors.
The Louisville Southern High School graduate established team marks for most passes completed and attempted for one game (40 completed, 62 attempted), season (286, 533) and career (2,576, 4,647), most career touchdown passes (199) and most 300-yard games in a career (21).
He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1985 and 1993 Pro Bowls and was the 1985 Pro Bowl MVP. He was named All-Pro in 1986.
His jersey number #11 was retired by the Giants in September 1994 and Simms was inducted into the Morehead State Athletic Hall of Fame in October 1995.
Simms joined CBS Sports in January 1998 as lead analyst for the CBS Television Network's coverage of the NFL. He also was a studio analyst and co-host for ESPN and lead NFL analyst for NBC Sports.
He and his wife, Diana, have three children, Christopher, Matthew and Deirdre.
Simms will be joined in the 2011 class by Kerry Rhodes of University of Louisville and the Arizona Cardinals; Ron Hill, Kentucky State University and the Dallas Cowboys; Dale Lindsey of Western Kentucky University and the Cleveland Browns; and Lou Michaels of the University of Kentucky and the Baltimore Colts.
The group also will honor George Blanda, who played 26 seasons of professional football, the most in the sport's history, and scored more points than anyone in history at the time of his retirement. Blanda was a quarterback and place kicker for the University of Kentucky under Paul "Bear" Bryant.
The ninth annual induction ceremony will take place June 24 at Lexington Opera House, 401 West Short Street.
Kentucky is the only state to have its own Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The purpose of the hall, which inducted its first class in 2003, is to appropriately honor persons that have brought recognition to the state of Kentucky, or have by their unusual successful service achieved accomplishment(s) on behalf of their school, or have by act or contribution distinguished themselves as an unusual former National Football League player, coach, referee, owner, management, etc., or supporter of Pro Football.
Additional information on the induction ceremony is available by calling (859) 276-3488.
