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ESPN to Host Madden Ratings Week July 13 to 17 on SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take and NFL Live

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Today, ESPN announced plans to exclusively reveal the player ratings for the latest edition in the EA SPORTS Madden NFL franchise, Madden NFL 21. Starting on Monday, July 13, players part of the Madden NFL 21 “99 Club” (those rated 99 overall, the highest rating possible in the game) will be revealed during Get Up throughout the week. First Take, SportsCenter and NFL Live will also take part in Madden Ratings Week on ESPN.

The post ESPN to Host Madden Ratings Week July 13 to 17 on SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take and NFL Live appeared first on ESPN Press Room U.S..

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BILLS OWNER/PRESIDENT KIM PEGULA DISCUSSES LESSONS LEARNED GUIDING ORGANIZATION THROUGH COVID-19 PANDEMIC & SOCIAL INJUSTICE AS GUEST WRITER IN THIS WEEK’S “FMIA” COLUMN

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“The hard decisions will always be there waiting for you but honing your softer leadership skills like checking in with staff…and allowing people into your personal space goes a lot farther.” – Pegula on her leadership style through the pandemic

“We didn’t need to be first, we didn’t need to be the fastest…we needed to be effective.” – Pegula on the Bills’ social justice plan

“I plan to stand during the anthem. Standing doesn’t mean that I don’t support Black lives or that I’m not invested in the causes players hope to draw attention.” – Pegula on her intention to stand during the National Anthem

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 6, 2020 – In the latest edition of Peter King’s Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, Kim Pegula, owner/president of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, serves as a guest writer and discusses 10 lessons learned while guiding the organizations through the COVID-19 pandemic and forming a plan to combat social injustice.

Across NBC Sports this week, ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest offseason news and the Rotoworld Football Podcast prepares for the 2020 season.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

Kim Pegula: “Amid the coronavirus pandemic this spring, our staff went remote, free agency came and went, our draft was virtual and our coaches tried to figure out how to bring together a new group of guys that in many ways hasn’t yet been able to connect…We’re also part of a nationwide conversation on racial inequality and social injustice made acutely necessary by the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota. People are angry, frustrated and both the city of Buffalo and the Bills are right there with them.”

Pegula on her role: “My role as owner and president means that I must push for change at the league level while also making sure our own house is in order…Here are 10 things I’ve learned thus far through an extraordinary spring, and how I plan to make sure our organizations are positioned to come out better on the other side.”

LESSONS LEARNED

  1. Just being in the game isn’t enough

Pegula: “As an Asian-American female owner in the NFL, I’ve always been very aware that I am a minority. I’ve also always thought of myself as a champion of diversity of some sort.”

Pegula on her actions: “Since recent events, however, the word that resonated with me over the last month is “deliberate.” Was promoting diversity and fighting racism a deliberate priority for me as a leader of the organization? I’d have to say no, and I’d have to acknowledge that I failed there. Day-to-day demands – meetings, budgets, agendas – got in the way, and so it’s been a learning experience for me as a minority woman to realize I have so much further to go.”

  1. Change starts at home

Pegula: “We heard from a lot of our Black players and employees that one of the most important things to do in the short term was to start having the conversation and acknowledge racism exists.”

Pegula on the Bills’ town hall: “In May, we held a town hall open to every employee across our organization called ‘Listen, Learn, Love.’…I felt it was important that we spent the time for our own family, people we knew we could affect, and who were deserving of our time and effort on this topic.”

Pegula on the Bills’ actions regarding social justice: “We didn’t need to be first, we didn’t need to be the fastest. On this important topic we needed to be effective and that started with the people we cared about the most – our collective Buffalo family.”

Pegula on Bills rookie QB Jake Fromm’s racially insensitive text messages coming to light in June: “For me, this was an opportunity for us to practice what we preach – to listen, learn and love. This was a learning opportunity for him and us, and a chance for Jake to build better relationships going forward. I know he’s had multiple conversations with the team and individual players, and it will continue to be up to him to determine how he’s going to heal those wounds.”

  1. Change needs to be real and it’s not a competition

Pegula: “I’ve heard from many in our organization demanding action, and yes, there are small things we can do in the short-term to improve racial equality…This time, I wanted to focus on how we can make it deliberate, how we make it stick, how does it become the ‘norm.’ One of the biggest challenges for myself and my staff has been to create not just a plan of action, but action that is deliberate and sustainable.”

  1. The harder the decisions, the “softer” you need to be

Pegula: “The ‘soft’ leadership skills – making myself visible to our staff and providing clear, consistent communication, as well as acknowledging what I don’t know – are now at the forefront and just as important as the hard skills.”

Pegula on her leadership style: “Some people may assume Terry (Pegula) is better at the hard skills and I’m the soft-skill type, but it’s probably the opposite. During this time, being ‘soft’ is more important. The hard decisions will always be there waiting for you but honing your softer leadership skills like checking in with staff, being on Zoom meetings you weren’t on before and allowing people into your personal space goes a lot farther. That’s been an important learning point for me.”

  1. A pandemic doesn’t discriminate

Pegula: “Not only was football affected but so was every other business we were involved, including the Sabres of the National Hockey League…Even in the expanded playoff, we were one of the seven teams that didn’t make the cut. This allowed us to re-examine ourselves once again.”

Pegula on recent moves within the Sabres front office: “While I don’t want to get into the specifics of why we parted ways with GM Jason Botterill, the pandemic certainly added another layer of complexity to a results-oriented business…We needed to become leaner and more agile to meet the challenges we knew were coming.”

  1. Engage with the issues and be clear on where you stand

Pegula: “At the height of player demonstrations during the anthem in 2016 and 2017, there was a sense that people didn’t want to come down definitively on either side, that if we waited long enough, it would go away. Here in 2020, I feel it’s essential that we’re transparent and that we engage with the issues, and that’s why I thought it was important to share my stance early.

I plan to stand during the anthem. Standing doesn’t mean that I don’t support Black lives or that I’m not invested in the causes players hope to draw attention, from systemic racism to police brutality to mass incarceration. People in our organization have very different viewpoints stemming from their own personal experiences. I support and encourage their right to act on those views. In return, I’d only ask that they respect my choices as well. Listen, learn and love at its core.

I was born in South Korea and adopted by Canadian parents who moved to Rochester, New York. My parents became American citizens in order to adopt me and bring me to the U.S., and I later became a naturalized American citizen. In November of 2019, I had the opportunity to return to South Korea and see the orphanage where I grew up. While a new building had been built, it was in the same spot, and the children living there were having an early childhood very similar to my own. To me, becoming a U.S. citizen involved an oath to the flag and the country, something deeply personal. I pledged allegiance to the flag and standing for the anthem is a tribute to the oath I took. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities I’ve had, and I wouldn’t have had them if I hadn’t become a U.S. citizen.

Unfortunately, many people in this country have not shared those experiences and being a citizen of our country has not always been easy. Awareness of those differences has made me more respectful of individuals’ choices on how they will approach the anthem this season and has also given me the conviction to be clear about my intentions and what it means and doesn’t mean when I stand for the anthem.”

  1. Employees are more than their job

Pegula: “When you work with employees in an office setting, that’s how you see them. They’re in a role and they’re doing their job. Now that so much is happening on Zoom calls, we’re still talking about work, but I’m looking into people’s kitchens and I’m in their offices…It’s absolutely softened me to see my staff in these different settings, there is more to them than the job.”

  1. Uncertainty is here to stay

Pegula: “We started meeting daily to prepare for the inevitable and the unpredictable and share best practices across different parts of the business…There’s still a lot of unanswered questions, and even when I get answers, those answers just seem to lead to more questions.”

  1. We can do things we never thought possible

Pegula: “Amidst all that uncertainty, the teams across our organizations have proven themselves capable of so much more than I ever would have expected…Much like a football team itself, our business staff follows a schedule and a routine, and it took an unprecedented moment to push ourselves to be flexible.”

Pegula on a call between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and sports leaders on draft night: “To be honest, selfishly I was a little upset that he would schedule a call on draft night…When I logged onto the Zoom call, there was commissioner Roger Goodell also on the call. Obviously my role, compared to the on-air role the commissioner has, is very small…That was a moment that put things in perspective for me in terms of the ways in which everyone in this league, no matter who you are, was making new challenges work in unprecedented ways.”

  1. Find joy where you can. For me, that’s with family

Pegula: “One of the few upsides of the pandemic has been the unprecedented amount of time our family has been able to spend together in one place…It’s a shame that a pandemic is what it took for all of us to come together like that, but it was a positive, and one for which I am hugely grateful.”

Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:

    • ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest offseason news and updates.
    • Rotoworld Football Podcast: Experts Josh Norris, John Daigle, Hayden Winks, and Patrick Daugherty continue to prepare for the 2020 season.

 

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—NBC SPORTS—

ESPN to Relaunch NFL Live in August with New Host Laura Rutledge and Analysts Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, Mina Kimes and Keyshawn Johnson

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ESPN will relaunch NFL Live, the year-round weekday news and information show, in August with new host Laura Rutledge and a consistent roster of daily analysts that features Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, Keyshawn Johnson and Mina Kimes, who moves into a new NFL analyst role.

The post ESPN to Relaunch <em>NFL Live</em> in August with New Host Laura Rutledge and Analysts Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, Mina Kimes and Keyshawn Johnson appeared first on ESPN Press Room U.S..

The Cam Chronicles, A New Miniseries from THE RINGER about Cam Newton

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THE CAM CHRONICLES, A NEW MINISERIES FROM THE RINGER NFL SHOW ABOUT SUPERSTAR CAM NEWTON, TO DEBUT ON JULY 13

  • The Ringer Podcast Network to launch a new podcast miniseries that explores the life and career of NFL superstar Cam Newton, The Cam Chronicles on July 13
  • There will be a total of 6 episodes 
  • Listen to the trailer for The Cam Chronicles HERE
  • On July 13, all 6 episodes of The Cam Chronicles will be available for free exclusively on Spotify on The Ringer NFL Show feed. Episodes will debut weekly on all other platforms.
  • The Ringer’s Tyler R. Tynes spent 9 months reporting, researching, and writing the multi-part narrative series on Newton’s controversial life and career.
  • The series will feature interviews with Cam, Newton’s pastor father Cecil, former teammates, coaches, and journalists who covered the superstar quarterback from his days at Florida, his JUCO year at Blinn College, his breakout season at Auburn, and as the star of the Carolina Panthers for the past nine seasons. 
  • Tynes interviewed dozens of people to examine a figure who has come under scrutiny for issues related to race, style of play, amateur athletics, and politics while also rising to MVP status, appearing in Super Bowl 50, and inspiring a generation of NFL quarterbacks dominating the game today.
  • As of yesterday, Cam Newton was signed by the New England Patriots for the 2020-2021 NFL season. 

JOE BROWNE, LONGEST-SERVING NFL EMPLOYEE, LOOKS BACK ON AFL-NFL MERGER 50 YEARS LATER AS GUEST WRITER IN THIS WEEK’S “FMIA” COLUMN

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“There was no time for a long legal document to be drafted and signed. A press release spelling out the terms would have to suffice…I was the messenger who delivered a copy of the press release to the United Press International sports desk.” – Browne on his role in the AFL-NFL merger

“(Commissioner Rozelle) had a chalkboard that contained five different alignment scenarios labeled 1 through 5… His secretary…would be the one to break the deadlock by blindly picking one of the slips of paper.” – Browne on how Commissioner Pete Rozelle decided NFC divisional alignment

“By 1970, pro football had overtaken Major League Baseball and college football as America’s favorite sport. While baseball was ‘America’s Pastime,’ football was on its way to becoming ‘America’s Passion.’” – Browne on the NFL’s growing popularity

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 29, 2020 – In the latest edition of Peter King’s Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, Joe Browne, the all-time longest-serving NFL employee who retired in 2016, serves as a guest writer and looks back at the story behind the 1970 AFL-NFL merger 50 years later. Browne also discusses how the NFL’s popularity grew following the merger and his relationship with former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle.

Across NBC Sports this week, ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest offseason news and the Rotoworld Football Podcast prepares for the 2020 season.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

AFL-NFL MERGER

Joe Browne on the AFL-NFL merger: “Fifty years ago, the National Football League and American Football League completed their merger to form one professional league. I was there for it, as a young NFL public relations employee. As a league intern in 1966, I saw the stop-and-start and stop-and-start-again merger talks in their infancy.”

Browne on the reasons for merger talks: “In 1966, the enormous economic costs to both AFL and NFL owners in their battle for fans, rookie players, and franchise cities continued to escalate. It had been going on several years. After consulting with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle and the lawyers, Cowboys president Tex Schramm invited his Dallas neighbor – but not close friend – Lamar Hunt, the co-founder of the rival AFL, to meet him on April 4…Tex chose Lamar to talk merger because Hunt was respected by his fellow AFL owners; rumors were that Lamar wanted to end the excessive player spending, and he was known as a quiet person who could keep matters confidential.”

Browne: “Hunt and Schramm met again in early May; fortunately, both sides agreed that whatever obstacles were on the table could be overcome. That was the good news.”

Browne on one impediment to the merger: “Giants owner Wellington Mara told his peers that he had just signed standout Buffalo Bills kicker Pete Gogolak, who had played out his AFL option with that team. It was the first time an AFL player was jumping to the NFL. I wasn’t in attendance but later was told it was one of the more emotional league meetings ever held. How could the Giants, who knew about the Schramm-Hunt talks, have thrown gasoline on a burning fire?”

Browne on the fallout from the Giants signing Gogolak: “When the league meeting ended, several of the most influential NFL owners met privately in the hotel…The group instructed Schramm to convince his close friend Rozelle, who leaned more to fighting than merging, to get onboard and bring these merger talks to a conclusion. Pete, who believed the AFL was spending itself out of business, finally agreed.”

Browne on the agreement: “Things moved rapidly after that Gogolak uproar…One of the last hurdles was removed when Hunt agreed his league would (reluctantly) pay the NFL a total of $18 million over 10 years. The two peacemakers then met on June 7 with Rozelle and the lawyers in Washington D.C. …The Washington meeting with Hunt went into the early hours of June 8 until, perhaps out of exhaustion, all sides agreed to the final terms.”

Browne on his role: “There was no time for a long legal document to be drafted and signed. A press release spelling out the terms would have to suffice…I was the messenger who delivered a copy of the press release to the United Press International sports desk on 42nd Street, a few blocks from Times Square.”

DIVISIONAL ALIGNMENT

Browne: “Fast forward to 1970. It had been agreed that the AFL would operate under its original name through the end of the ‘60s. Joint committees that included owners from both sides worked during those years on issues ranging from future scheduling to roster size to player medical benefits. However, a divisional alignment of the National Football Conference had to be decided only by the 13 NFC owners. It would be one of the final steps to the completion of the merger.”

Browne on NFC alignment issues: “The remaining NFC owners still were bickering about the best alignment for their conference, and themselves. Longtime traditional division rivalries were at risk. Some of the in-fighting concerned stadium capacities. Clubs much preferred road games in front of 75,000 fans who were paying high ticket prices…Other teams did not want to travel 3,000 miles to play division rivals. Progress on the issue was being made by inches, not yards.”

Browne on the final meeting to decide NFC alignment: “Pete (Rozelle) told the clubs that the 49ers, who via the merger agreement had a veto right to any alignment plan they did not like, had agreed to respect Pete’s authority to force an alignment…He had a chalkboard that contained five different alignment scenarios labeled 1 through 5 wheeled in…Pete gave it one last shot. If there were no consensus on any one plan, he would draw the number of the winning alignment out of a hat.”

Browne: “The owners accepted this game-plan because they had become as tired of the arguments as Pete…The commissioner told me to ask Thelma Elkjer, his secretary, to enter the room…She would be the one to break the deadlock by blindly picking one of the slips of paper. The owners trusted her…Without even a drumroll, Thelma reached in, pulled out a slip and announced that the winning plan was number 3.”

Browne on the reaction: “Tex Schramm let out a little cheer and smiled at Cowboys owner Clint Murchison who was beside him. Plan 3 was the ONLY combination that had the Cowboys in the same division as the Giants, Redskins and Eagles…A couple of the NFC Central teams mumbled their discontent because the combination of Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota meant they would not get that much-desired, warm weather break toward the season’s end.”

INNOVATIONS & TELEVISION

Browne on Monday Night Football: “Rozelle, better than any exec in or outside sports back then, understood the promotional power and impact of network television. He had been working to get NFL games in front of more diversified prime-time viewers in a weekly series. However, most network honchos still thought prime-time football would attract only a niche sports audience…Fortunately, young Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports at the time, shared Pete’s vision of prime-time football.”

Browne: “By 1970, pro football had overtaken Major League Baseball and college football as America’s favorite sport. While baseball was “America’s Pastime,” football was on its way to becoming “America’s Passion.” The NFL was ready to compete successfully with not only other sports but also all forms of entertainment.”

Browne on NFL innovations in 1970: “The 1970 season also featured for the first time a postseason wild-card team in each conference…A four-year collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1970 between the clubs…New policy changes in 1970 included player names on the back of all jerseys.”

Browne on his visit with Rozelle in 1996: “I asked Pete in a serious moment during my house visit if he could ever have anticipated the league’s spectacular growth 25 years earlier…The then-69 year old Rozelle emotionally replied that it was impossible to imagine back in 1970 all the growth, excitement, and interest the league would enjoy, and the entertainment and competition it would provide its fans.”

Browne on his career: “I retired from the NFL in 2016. I had attended 50 straight Super Bowls…I had a helluva 50-year ride (I called it an “internship”) in communications, public relations,  government affairs, community endeavors and alumni coordination…Whenever folks ask how I survived at the NFL all those years, I first point out that having only three commissioner-CEOs over 50 years didn’t hurt. There’s something to be said about continuity.”

Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:

    • ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest offseason news and updates.
    • Rotoworld Football Podcast: Experts Josh Norris, John Daigle, Hayden Winks, and Patrick Daugherty continue to prepare for the 2020 season.

 

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—NBC SPORTS—

PATRICK MAHOMES RANKS NO. 1 AND RUSSELL WILSON IS NO. 2 AS CHRIS SIMMS COMPLETES HIS TOP 40 QB COUNTDOWN, NOW ON “CHRIS SIMMS UNBUTTONED” AND “PRO FOOTBALL TALK LIVE”

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Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson Round Out Numbers 3-5 in the Simms Top 40 QB Countdown

“There is no weakness to Patrick Mahomes’ game right now…He’s the most creative thrower I’ve ever seen.” – Simms on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes at No. 1

“Let’s start respecting the greatness of No. 3 up in Seattle…He’s one of the greatest one-man shows in the NFL. He does everything for his football team.” – Simms on Seahawks QB Russell Wilson at No. 2

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 26, 2020 – Chris Simms ranks Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes as his number one quarterback in the NFL, while Seattle’s Russell Wilson ranks number two as Simms’ top 40 quarterback countdown concludes on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast and “PFT Live” this week with the QBs ranked 1-5.

“There is no weakness to Patrick Mahomes’ game right now. There is none. There’s literally nothing,” said Simms about ranking Mahomes No. 1. “I’ve never seen anybody like him in my life.”

Simms, a third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2003 NFL Draft who played eight NFL seasons, also unveiled his quarterbacks ranked three through five this week: Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers at three, Houston’s Deshaun Watson at four, and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson at five.

Simms’ complete Top 40 QB Countdown:

 

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City 21. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland
2. Russell Wilson, Seattle 22. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay 23. Sam Darnold, New York Jets
4. Deshaun Watson, Houston 24. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
5. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore 25. Drew Lock, Denver
6. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia 26. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati
7. Matt Ryan, Atlanta 27. Andy Dalton, Dallas
8. Dak Prescott, Dallas 28. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami
9. Matthew Stafford, Detroit 29. Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina
10. Cam Newton, Free Agent 30. Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville
11. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee 31. Nick Foles, Chicago
12. Kyler Murray, Arizona 32. Case Keenum, Cleveland
13. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota 33. Jameis Winston, New Orleans
14. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh 34. Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers
15. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay 35. Jarrett Stidham, New England
16. Drew Brees, New Orleans 36. Taysom Hill, New Orleans
17. Philip Rivers, Indianapolis 37. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
18. Josh Allen, Buffalo 38. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago
19. Derek Carr, Las Vegas 39. Dwayne Haskins, Washington
20. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 40. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami

 

The rankings will continue next week with numbers 23-30 on “PFT Live” and Chris Simms Unbuttoned.

The following are highlights from Chris Simms’ quarterback rankings:

No. 5: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Simms: “Awesome, exciting, one of the most explosive players in football. Certainly, dangerous in so many different ways. The skillset is vast. The running is electric — it is as good as anyone we have ever seen at the quarterback position other than Michael Vick. The throwing continues to go on an upward arc. He is a natural thrower…Is he a polished passer yet? No…There are still inconsistencies with that…His great running ability is setting up some great passing looks sometimes too, to maybe fool us into thinking he is a little bit better of a thrower than he is…I don’t think he is ready to carry the team with his right arm…That is basically the last piece we need to see from him to where he could be the number one or number two quarterback next year.”

No. 4: Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans

Simms: “They don’t come more talented, more cool under pressure, than Deshaun Watson…He can maybe be a little bit more of a precise short-ball thrower…If he fixes that stuff, the sky is the limit. Another guy, like Lamar Jackson, where…he could challenge to be the best quarterback in the game. He is an unbelievable deep-ball thrower. He has got unbelievable toughness, and when the play breaks down, you could argue Deshaun Watson is as good as anybody in football to make something happen when nothing is there…The best thing about him is he is arguably one of the best deep-ball throwers in football. That, to me, is where I just think he is special…That is where he really stresses defenses out because we know he can scramble, but then you’ve got to go, ‘We better worry about the other 50 yards behind us, because he can bomb it over us that way too.’”

No. 3: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Simms: “This is the first time since 2010 that I am going into a season where I don’t think Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in football…Why did he fall to three? There are two guys in front him who are really special and in the primes of their careers. Rodgers, he is on that part where it is starting to go downhill, (but he’s) still special…Do I think his skills are declining a little bit? Yes… but it doesn’t matter. It is still a special arm…It is still one of the best arms in the game…His escapability was a little less than what we normally see from him…I think he is too careful with the football. I think that is the biggest reason or the biggest thing about his game that I don’t like right now…Yeah, the window was tight, but you are freaking Aaron Rodgers. Throw it in there…This is the greatest gunslinger we have seen in the history of the sport, (and) who takes care of the football…He will win you a lot of games, and he really doesn’t lose you a lot of games because of that too…He is still arguably the most-gifted thrower, passer in the game. There is no offense, no play, nothing exists other than maybe the Lamar Jackson-offense that Aaron Rodgers couldn’t run. He can make every throw off every platform to a degree that there is only a few people in the history of the league that could do it (how) he does.”

No. 2: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Simms: “Let’s start respecting the greatness of No. 3 up in Seattle…He’s one of the greatest one-man shows in the NFL. He does everything for his football team, let alone he plays quarterback for a team that doesn’t play a quarterback-friendly style of football…(The Seahawks) have to get out of this mold of, ‘We’re still the Legion of Boom in 2013.’ Put the ball in Russell’s hands from start to finish in every game. Put the pressure on teams that way…With an offense that’s not necessarily the most creative passing game in football — it’s very elementary — and Russell Wilson, he makes it happen with pinpoint passing. He might be the best deep-ball thrower in the game, and then, of course, we know his adlibbing and ability to escape the pocket.”

No. 1: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Simms: “Where do you start? There is no weakness to Patrick Mahomes’ game right now. There is none. There’s literally nothing…I’ve never seen anybody like him in my life. Yeah, you’d like it from a quarterback school standpoint of him being a little more strict technique-wise, but it’s what makes him him. And certainly, when his technique is right, I mean, come on. It’s a walk in the park…He’s truly a special, special talent. He’s the most creative thrower I’ve ever seen, and that’s crazy because Aaron Rodgers is really creative, but I’ve never seen a guy who could do it with more different ways…He’s got more delivery points and ability to get it done than anybody I’ve ever seen play quarterback in my entire life…This is another aspect that I love: his deep drop. He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee at quarterback. I don’t even call it a drop. He just floats back there. It’s unlike any other quarterback in football. It’s really, in a lot of ways, brilliant.”

To listen to the full player breakdowns on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, click here.

-NBC SPORTS-

Hard Knocks times two! Debuts Tuesday, Aug. 11 on HBO

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HBO SPORTS® AND NFL FILMS RETURN WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED EDITION OF TELEVISION’S MOST ACCLAIMED SPORTS REALITY FRANCHISE

WHEN HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES,

CHRONICLING THE PRESEASON OF THE CHARGERS AND RAMS

DEBUTS AUGUST 11, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

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HBO Sports, NFL Media And NFL Films

Announce Multi-Year Renewal Of The Franchise

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HBO Sports, NFL Films and the two Los Angeles-based NFL franchises are teaming up for an unprecedented and unfiltered all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES kicks off its five-episode season this summer. One of the fastest-turnaround programs on TV, the 15th edition of the 18-time Sports Emmy®-winning series debuts TUESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other hour-long episodes of the first sports-based reality series debuting subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.

HARD KNOCKS will have encore plays Wednesday nights and will be available to stream on HBO via HBO Max and partners’ platforms.

In an unprecedented programming move, the 2020 edition of the venerable series will spotlight both Los Angeles NFL teams: The Los Angeles Chargers of the AFC West and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFC West. The two franchises are set to share the spectacular new 70,000-seat SoFi stadium that is nearing completion in Inglewood, California.

The arrival of HARD KNOCKS each August is a unique NFL tradition and NFL FILMS and HBO Sports are making plans for an all-new season of the most acclaimed serialized sports series on television.

One of sports television’s most successful and enduring partnerships, HBO Sports, NFL Media and NFL Films have reached agreement on a multi-year extension of the HARD KNOCKS franchise.

“The HARD KNOCKS franchise continues to excel as the preeminent sports reality series,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports.  “Our partnership with NFL Films, which dates back to 1977, consistently produces groundbreaking television programming. We are grateful to the Chargers and Rams organizations to be able to present the 2020 training camp experience.”

“NFL Films cherishes the relationship we’ve had with HBO for over four decades, and specifically with the HARD KNOCKS franchise since 2001,” says NFL Films senior executive Ross Ketover. “To be able to announce this extension as we embark on an unprecedented two team series this summer brings us incredible pride and only heightens our excitement for the return of football.”

Camera crews will head to southern California in the next few weeks to begin filming, with the action heating up in August when the cinéma vérité show focuses on the daily lives and routines of players and coaches.

Under fourth-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are just a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have a roster featuring an intriguing mix of high-profile players, established veterans, and free-agent acquisitions.

After an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers are looking for a return to the winning formula that helped them finish tied for the AFC’s best record in 2018. Led by fourth-year head coach Anthony Lynn, the Chargers overhauled roster features young, rising stars on both sides of the ball, a new quarterback behind center and an influx of veteran talent added this offseason.

Both franchises will also be debuting new logos and uniforms when they open their new, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium home later this year. 

Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn said, “Having been part of Hard Knocks before when I was with the New York Jets, my biggest takeaway from that whole experience was that you get out of it what you put into it. There’s a reason that season was probably the most popular Hard Knocks ever. If you’re going to do a show, do it right. You can’t fake it. We didn’t have a problem providing access because we built a relationship with the crew. There was a mutual trust that exists to this day with those people, and many of them will actually be working on this year’s show. Broadcasting your internal business all over the world isn’t something you regularly want to do, but in a year with as many challenges as this one has had, I’m glad we can be part of bringing football back to the fans this summer.”

“We are looking forward to having Hard Knocks in our camp this year,” said Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay. “Hard Knocks always offers a rare opportunity for our fans to see our players’ hard work to prepare for the season, as well as gives them a peek behind the curtain to observe these guys off the field, too.  This year will be special because the show will also get an unprecedented look at SoFi Stadium, Stan Kroenke’s vision for professional football in L.A.”

Dedicated NFL Films production crews will be in both southern California training camps, shooting more than 2,300 hours of footage over the course of the series, offering an inside look at the daily rigors of an NFL training camp. With access to players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields, HARD KNOCKS will document hours of conditioning practices and meetings, chronicling players as they compete for a roster spot and bond off the field.

HBO has aired 72 memorable episodes and one anniversary special in its first 14 seasons. No other sports reality series can match the production excellence, critical acclaim, awards and audience numbers posted by HARD KNOCKS. Episodes have averaged four million viewers over the past four years.

Winner of 18 Sports Emmy® Awards to date, HARD KNOCKS launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, and resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, subsequently spotlighting the Cowboys (2008), Cincinnati Bengals (2009), New York Jets (2010), Miami Dolphins (2012), Bengals (2013), Atlanta Falcons (2014), Houston Texans (2015) and Los Angeles Rams (2016). The 2017 edition chronicled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and captured the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Serialized Documentary. The widely acclaimed 2018 series with the Cleveland Browns earned two Sports Emmy® Awards for production excellence. HARD KNOCKS has won a Sports Emmy® every year it has aired since 2008.

Eight of the last ten teams featured on HARD KNOCKS have equaled or improved their win-loss record in the regular season. The Cleveland Browns launched the transformation of their organization on HBO and went from a winless 2017 season to coming within half a game (7-8-1) of a .500 campaign.  The 2019 season saw the Raiders improve their record to 7-9 from the previous year’s 4-12 mark.  The series featuring the iconic Raider franchise averaged 4.3 million viewers per episode, generating the highest viewership for the show since 2015 and the second-best viewership numbers for HARD KNOCKS in the past ten years.

Washington Post wrote, “Turning football players into people is what HBO’s HARD KNOCKS series does so well. The massive scope, meticulous editing and time-hopping special effects that highlight a production under massive time constraints are all impressive, but it’s the film crew’s access to NFL players that makes the program special.”  USA Today said, “Players’ lives and their hopes and dreams play out each NFL preseason on HARD KNOCKS. It’s that month-long human drama that makes the show so profoundly compelling.”

Winner of 129 Sports Emmy® Awards, NFL Films remains a gold standard in sports television, providing unprecedented access to and legendary storytelling about the sport of professional football. NFL Films is a part of NFL Media, the owned and operated media division of the National Football League, which is comprised of NFL Network, NFL Films, the NFL App, NFL.com and NFL RedZone.

HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES will be narrated by Liev Schreiber, marking his 14th season with the show.

DR. MYRON ROLLE, FORMER NFL PLAYER, AMONG FRONT-LINE WORKERS TO PEN ESSAYS ABOUT WORKING THROUGH CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AS GUEST WRITERS IN THIS WEEK’S “FMIA” COLUMN

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“I wanted to pay tribute to those who worked selflessly for hours, and still do, in some cases…We should all be thankful that so many people worked so hard to lessen the tragic effects of this pandemic.” – Peter King on today’s guest writers

“My football background has been huge for me – both in my medical career and during this coronavirus crisis…In everything, I work to get two percent better to be the best provider I can possibly be.” – Myron Rolle on his football background and work as a neurosurgical resident

“As happens in sports, our teams have many unsung heroes…Those teams perform at a high level because we practice a lot, we care for each other, we pay attention to our mental health. The stakes are so high for everyone.” – Dr. Bruce Meyer on his team’s work at Philadelphia-area hospitals

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 22, 2020 – In the latest edition of Peter King’s Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, five front-line workers, including former NFL safety and current neurosurgical resident Myron Rolle, serve as guest writers and pen essays about their recent work in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Today on NBCSN, The Rich Eisen Show airs at Noon ET, and NBC Sports Football Flex, a one-hour show featuring the most topical news and analysis from NBC Sports’ digital football content, began at 11 a.m. ET.

Additionally, ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest offseason news, and NFL insider Mike Florio and analyst Chris Simms provide analysis and updates on PFT Live. Simms also continues to count down his top 40 NFL quarterback rankings.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

Peter King on today’s article: “I wanted to pay tribute to those who worked selflessly for hours, and still do, in some cases…Thanks for your work during one of the most trying times of your lives. That’s the real message of today. We should all be thankful that so many people worked so hard to lessen the tragic effects of this pandemic.”

MYRON ROLLE

Dr. Myron Rolle is finishing his third year as a neurosurgical resident at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He played safety at Florida State and was drafted by the Titans in the sixth round in 2010, also spending time with the Steelers before leaving the NFL for medical school.

Myron Rolle: “During my shifts in the surge clinic, my colleagues and I are foot soldiers in this larger fight…Despite the busyness of this team, one of the most jarring things is seeing empty hallways in the hospital, knowing that family members can’t come in, essential staff is limited and that people in need have had their procedures postponed to allow us to help the very sickest patients.”

Rolle on his football background: “My football background has been huge for me – both in my medical career and during this coronavirus crisis. My defensive coordinator at Florida State was the legendary Mickey Andrews, who taught us this mantra: ‘Get two percent better every day.’…If you add up all those incremental bites, it leads to a big change, and you’ll be so much better than you were when you started.”

Rolle: “I’ve extrapolated that two percent mindset to life. I try to get two percent better whenever I do anything, especially in surgery and the technical skills we rely on every day. That includes learning daily about COVID-19…In everything, I work to get two percent better to be the best provider I can possibly be.”

Rolle: “The thing that’s been most impactful for me throughout the pandemic has been knowing that this is a time when people look for providers to speak their truth, which is a role I hope to help fill for the disproportionate number of black and brown people who are being infected with COVID-19. Disparities in our healthcare system existed long before coronavirus and those are the communities being hit the hardest. For me and my colleagues to be advocates for those groups is an essential to me.”

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s advice to Rolle: “You should want to be like Myron Rolle. I’ve followed your career – I know you’ll succeed. But you don’t have to be like someone else to succeed. Make your own path. Be the first you.”

BRUCE MEYER

Dr. Bruce Meyer is the president of Jefferson Health, and oversees 14 hospitals in the Philadelphia area, with 2,200 doctors, 8,000 nurses and more than 25,000 employees in all. He took issue with my request for what people on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis have learned from their sports backgrounds. “I never played high school or college sports but certainly think that I and my team know a lot about group success and protecting the unit from harm,” Meyer said.

Bruce Meyer on his team’s fight against COVID-19: “Every morning at Jefferson Health, the leaders on our team meet in a virtual conference room for a one-hour meeting we call our Daily Huddle…It has been intense and sometimes tragic, but we have never been overwhelmed because of our preparation through disaster planning exercises and execution of an extremely organized daily incident command structure that cascades throughout the organization. Those daily virtual team meetings ensure that personnel and supplies are distributed to where they are most needed.”

Meyer on his team: “As happens in sports, our teams have many unsung heroes, including our nursing, physician, and direct care staff…Those teams perform at a high level because we practice a lot, we care for each other, we pay attention to our mental health. The stakes are so high for everyone.”

Meyer: “Just like high-performing football teams, we trust and respect each other, we are committed and accountable to each other, and we are results-oriented. You don’t need to have coached or played sports to be a great team member or leader. Brilliant, high-performing teams and leaders are built from people of diverse experiences. I am proud to be their captain.”

MEG MARIE FORD

Meg Marie Ford wrote on behalf of her younger sister Sara Thiel, a Special Olympics athlete and essential worker at Pavilions grocery store in Mission Viejo, Calif. Sara has worked at Pavilions for 11 years and has played sports with Special Olympics of Southern California for over two decades.

Meg Marie Ford on her sister, Sara: “My sister Sara has participated in Special Olympics since grade school…Sara has focused mainly on sports like basketball, softball and floor hockey, because they allow her to be a part of a team after growing up in a world where people like her are often left out, or picked last, or mocked just for trying to play with other kids.”

Ford on Sara’s job: “Her job duties as a Pavilions courtesy clerk include bagging groceries for customers, making sure the store is clean and ensuring carts are available for shoppers as they enter, but now the stakes are much higher. Early in the coronavirus pandemic, she did have days where she worked through worry and frustration…During the first few weeks, when the store was crowded with people who were frightened and angry and trying to hoard food and supplies, she would text home to say she was scared. The uncertainly around health protocols was also a stressor and sometimes had her in tears on the way to and home from work.”

Ford: “Many of her coworkers have been unable to return to work, but as long as she’s healthy and able, Sara will be at her store. She’d as soon quit her job as walk off the playing field and has filled in extra shifts and stayed late when asked. She is rigorous in practicing good COVID hygiene at work and at home.”

Ford: “The Special Olympics athletes credo, which they recite before the beginning of games is ‘if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.’ I’m proud to have Sara on my team.”

JOSH HAGER

Josh Hager works as an assistant principal for the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, a school of 1,700 students in Clark County School District. When the district went from in-person to virtual education in a matter of days, Hager took charge of getting computers and internet access to students who wouldn’t otherwise have them.

Josh Hager on his school’s actions at the beginning of the pandemic: “We moved, by necessity, ridiculously quickly into distance education operations…If you know Las Vegas at all, we have very disparate social economic strata here. There’s a lot of money in some places and true poverty in others. As we made this transition to virtual classrooms, we wanted to ensure right away that all the students who were receiving nutrition through their schools would continue to do so, and that is still going on.”

Hager on providing technology to students: “You can’t participate in virtual classes if you don’t have Wi-Fi and a computer. I collected names of students who would need computers, and my Site-Based Technician Richard and I met at our school, took apart five Chromebook carts and repurposed 200 of them for student distribution…Kids who don’t have that access were at risk of falling behind. That is not fair, it’s not right, and we needed to address it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.”

Hager on relating his athletic experiences: “In those athletic experiences I’ve found a clue to the mentality a lot of people are taking on to successfully navigate this pandemic: Individual effort helps the team earn the victory.”

SCOTT SHURMUR

Dr. Scott Shurmur is the Division Chief of Cardiology at Texas Tech Health Centers in Lubbock, Texas, and comes from a family of football coaches and players. His cousin, Pat Shurmur, is the offensive coordinator of the Broncos and his father, Fritz Shurmur, coached in the league for two decades. To address a surge of COVID-19 cases, Dr. Shurmur and the cardiology team stepped in to care for ICU patients.

Scott Shurmur on his hospital’s PPE shortage: “The hospital leadership announced that all elective surgeries and catheter lab-based procedures…The reason was not a current or anticipated shortages of hospital beds or ventilators but in fact of personal protective equipment. As of that moment, the hospital had only a five-day supply of gowns and masks, and the supply chain had been interrupted. Our world had changed dramatically in front of our eyes, in the course of an hour.”

Shurmur on working in the ICU: “Shortly thereafter, we as cardiologists began taking care of medically ill ICU patients so that over-burdened pulmonary and critical care staff could focus on the COVID-19 patients. This was a return to our roots as general internists and intensivists…The initial discomfort was quickly replaced, however, by growing confidence, and satisfaction that, in our own small way, we were contributing to the larger, unprecedented effort.”

Shurmur on his football background: “As division chief, I am the de facto leader of the group…In this way, I see myself functioning somewhat as a head coach. This analogy frequently comes to mind, I suppose likely because I’ve had close family members in the NFL both at the assistant and head coach level continuously for the past 45 years. The dynamics of the coaching staff and the definition of its roles are an area where I’ve had the great privilege of having intimate knowledge.”

Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:

    • The Rich Eisen Show: Rich Eisen, a four-time Sports Emmy studio host nominee and NFL Network’s first on-air talent, brings his Los Angeles-based The Rich Eisen Show to NBCSN at Noon ET today and Friday this week.
    • PFT Live: Mike Florio and Chris Simms continue to discuss offseason storylines.
    • Simms Unbuttoned Podcast: Simms continues to unveil his Top 40 NFL quarterbacks with Nos. 1-5 throughout the week.

 

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—NBC SPORTS—

DAK PRESCOTT, CARSON WENTZ, KYLER MURRAY & CAM NEWTON HIGHLIGHT NUMBERS 6-14 ON CHRIS SIMMS’ TOP 40 QUARTERBACK COUNTDOWN, NOW ON “CHRIS SIMMS UNBUTTONED” AND “PRO FOOTBALL TALK LIVE”

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“He’s one of the six quarterbacks in football where you can put the squad on his back and he can carry you no matter who’s out there.” – Simms on Eagles QB Carson Wentz at No. 6

“Dak Prescott has it all. He’s a franchise quarterback. He deserves to be paid in a big way.” – Simms on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott at No. 8

“I am talking about a Top 10 quarterback who has no team. It’s insane…He’s so good and talented and threatening that no team wants to bring Cam Newton in to be the backup.” – Simms on Free Agent QB Cam Newton at No. 10

Top Five QBs to be Revealed This Week, Including Top Two on Thursday, June 25

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 22, 2020 – Chris Simms continues to unveil his list of the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast and “PFT Live” with the QBs ranked 6-14.

Beginning May 26 and culminating this Thursday, June 25 with his top two quarterbacks in the league, Simms will release two selections daily every Monday-Thursday on “PFT Live.”

Simms, a third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2003 NFL Draft who played eight NFL seasons, will also offer in-depth player breakdowns and rankings explanations throughout each week on Chris Simms Unbuttoned.

Among this week’s rankings is free agent Cam Newton at No. 10.

“I am talking about a Top 10 quarterback who has no team. It’s insane,” Simms said. “He’s so good and talented and threatening that no team wants to bring Cam Newton in to be the backup.”

Simms’ quarterbacks ranked 6-14:

 

6. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia 24. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
7. Matt Ryan, Atlanta 25. Drew Lock, Denver
8. Dak Prescott, Dallas 26. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati
9. Matthew Stafford, Detroit 27. Andy Dalton, Dallas
10. Cam Newton, Free Agent 28. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami
11. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee 29. Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina
12. Kyler Murray, Arizona 30. Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville
13. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota 31. Nick Foles, Chicago
14. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh 32. Case Keenum, Cleveland
15. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay 33. Jameis Winston, New Orleans
16. Drew Brees, New Orleans 34. Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers
17. Philip Rivers, Indianapolis 35. Jarrett Stidham, New England
18. Josh Allen, Buffalo 36. Taysom Hill, New Orleans
19. Derek Carr, Las Vegas 37. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
20. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 38. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago
21. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland 39. Dwayne Haskins, Washington
22. Daniel Jones, New York Giants 40. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami
23. Sam Darnold, New York Jets    

 

The rankings will continue next week with numbers 23-30 on “PFT Live” and Chris Simms Unbuttoned.

The following are highlights from Chris Simms’ quarterback rankings:

No. 14: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Simms: “He is still a baller…Big Ben is getting to an age where we know it is going to decline, but he’s still big-time in a lot of ways…One of the greatest deep ball throwers in the history of football. I think that’s where it starts…Unlike maybe a (Drew) Brees or a (Tom) Brady, where Big Ben still has an advantage is he’s still fearless in the pocket…He is still one of the best power throwers in football…When nothing is there, Big Ben can still make things happen. Size is a skill…He is one of the best backyard quarterbacks we have ever seen.”

No. 13: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

Simms: “Just an unbelievable read-and-react quarterback. I have never seen anyone who can drop back and evaluate the defense and just let it rip as quickly…To play in that kind of offense is not always easy for a quarterback. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. ‘Oh, Kirk, now can you stand up and throw a 15-yard laser for us in a big moment?’…I think he is a better athlete than he gets credit for.”

No. 12: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Simms: “The guy is special. I’m afraid that at the end of the 2020 season, I’m going to go, ‘Man, I knew I should have put Kyler Murray at five or six.’…You could argue he is the fastest quarterback in football, him or Lamar Jackson. Certainly, one of the best scrambling quarterbacks there is in football. His arm is off-the-charts strong…His release is lightning…There is nothing about his game that said careless rookie…Arizona is Arizona right now because of him…The stars are aligning. The guy is a special talent, and now they put talent around him.”

No. 11: Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

Simms: “He was on a football team that finally showed what he has and what you can do to utilize his talents…One of the most pure throwers in the NFL…Amazing deep ball thrower. Amazing, he is one of the best in football…Any intermediate-to-deep throw, he has got every club in the bag. He can drive it with power, throw it with touch. He is amazing that way. He stands in the pocket. He is fearless there, and of course he is a really good athlete…He, to me, takes advantage more of what is there to be had than almost any other quarterback I watched in football this year.”

No. 10: Cam Newton, Free Agent

Simms: “Here I am talking about a Top 10 quarterback who has no team. It’s insane…(Panthers head coach Matt Rhule) wants to make his stamp on the organization…He’s so good and talented and threatening that no team wants to bring Cam Newton in to be the backup. He’s going to threaten almost every quarterback in football except the elite, elite superstars…The guy’s talented, and I know he’s been injured…and he’s 31 years old…He’s going to be fine. It’s not career-ending. He’s got a lot of years ahead of him. He’s going to be able to play to 37, 38, maybe 40…I’m still a huge believer in Cam Newton.”

No. 9: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

Simms: “Disrespected throughout his career, it drives me crazy. One of the greatest arms and throwers in the history of the sport. He doesn’t get a lot of credit for that because he’s in the same division with the guy with the greatest arm in the history of the sport, in my opinion, Aaron Rodgers…Stafford, I thought in 2019, adjusted to the new playing style in Detroit with Matt Patricia…In 2019, he was out-of-this-world good in another offense that I would say was not quarterback-friendly and really wanted to run the ball first…From what I saw last year, the throws, the leadership, the decisions…he makes so many plays and throws that change the game. They just don’t always capitalize because they’re not a great team up in Detroit.”

No. 8: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Simms: “Dak Prescott brings it all to the table — leadership, toughness. I love that aspect of him and that’s where — him and Matt Stafford I had really close, but I give Dak Prescott the advantage because of some of that that he brings to the football team. There is somewhat of an edge he brings…This is one of the best deep ball throwers in football, too. I don’t think he quite gets the credit he deserves for making off-schedule plays and throws…To me, Dak Prescott has it all. He’s a franchise quarterback. He deserves to be paid in a big way.”

No. 7: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Simms: “Matt Ryan has such a great blend of things going on. He’s that precision, dissection passer that Tom Brady and Drew Brees are…It’s not a huge arm, I would say it’s below NFL-average, really, out of the starting quarterbacks…There are a lot of quarterbacks with better arms than Matt Ryan, but between his experience, his ability to dissect defenses like a Brady and a Brees, being able to handle all of that stuff mentally, and then being able to read and react to defenses and make quick decisions with big-time throws is awesome. Where I give him more respect than system or precision passers…is Matt Ryan is scary good running around the pocket and making plays when things break down. Their offensive line has stunk the last few years. I would really say I’m more impressed with the way Matt Ryan has played the last few years than in 2016 when he was the MVP of football.”

No. 6: Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

Simms: “(The Eagles) are not in the playoffs last year unless they have Carson Wentz at quarterback…I don’t even know where to begin. He’s one of the six quarterbacks in football where you can put the squad on his back and he can carry you no matter who’s out there, what style of game you play, what kind of offense you’re in, it doesn’t matter…It’s like the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James…Awesome arm. Explosive, game-changing arm…In the pocket, he’s as tough as there is in football…I think he’s one of the most talented quarterbacks in football. I think he’s only going upwards.”

To listen to the full player breakdowns on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, click here.

-NBC SPORTS-