The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Simms ready for Saturday's Senior Bowl
01.17.2003 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas - Former Texas QB Chris Simms, who holds UT's career records for completion percentage (58.7) and pass efficiency rating (138.4), will don the Longhorns helmet for the last time as he helps lead the South squad on Saturday in the 54th annual Senior Bowl. The contest, which is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. in Mobile, Ala., will be televised live by ESPN.
"I'm really excited to get back on the field," Simms said from Mobile. "It's been a hectic few days with everything you do down here, but I think I've had a good week of practices and am ready to play well."
Scouts have raved about Simms' arm strength and footwork throughout this week's practices and Detroit Lions head coach Marty Mornhinweg, who along with his staff is coaching the South, has been impressed by the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Longhorns MVP.
"He has great size and excellent arm strength," Mornhinweg said to USA Today earlier this week. "He appears to be extremely accurate. He has a quick release and pretty darn good movement and makes good decisions. He looks to have all the measurables an organization is looking for. Whatever team selects him will be very pleased."
Simms, a two-time Davey O'Brien semifinalist and 2002 third-team All-Big 12 choice, is coming off a senior season in which he completed 235-of-396 passes (59.3%) for 3,207 yards and a UT-record 26 TDs in leading the Longhorns to their second consecutive 11-win campaign. The left-handed signal caller also rushed for four scores and accounted for a school-record 30 TDs. He finished his career with a 26-6 record as a starter (No. 2 in UT history), including a perfect 15-0 mark at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Franklin Lakes, N.J., native also finished his career in second place on UT's TD passes chart (58) and fourth on the completions (535), passing yards (7,097) and total offense (6,960) lists.
USC's Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury are the other two quarterbacks on the South roster.
