Phil and Matt Simms talk podcasting together

There are a lot of sports podcasts out there, but not a lot with a father and son pair who both played quarterback in the NFL and then went on to media careers. That’s the Bleav podcast Simms Complete , featuring Phil and Matt Simms. Both Simms men spoke to AA about the podcast, with Phil saying he leans on Matt for tech support, but also loves getting to talk with him about football this way.

“I need him first and foremost because he’s in tune with technology a lot better than I am,” the former New York Giants quarterback said. “That’s a problem for me, I’ve got to ask him something every week. But it really is great; we’re having a good time, and I really enjoy it. It really is, to me, like father-son time.

“We get done, we have a few laughs, we talk, and get our opinions out about what we think about many things. It’s so much better than I ever expected it to be, not just because it’s my son, but doing a podcast and getting a few things off my chest. Maybe nobody listens or hears it, but it makes me feel better.”

Matt said this podcast grew out of their organic off-air conversations about football.

“We were just talking in the kitchen it seemed like every other day, post-football Sunday,” he said. “We’d have these discussions. And I said ‘Big guy, if you want to and if it makes sense with your schedule,’ he was still with CBS at the time, ‘we could do our own podcast and have chats like the great conversations we have in our home.’ And that’s basically how it progressed from there.”

Speaking of Phil’s past work for CBS, he said there’s one great advantage in podcasting over a TV show like The NFL Today : there’s enough time to fully develop a point or a discussion without a need to wrap up the segment or go to commercial.

“I think the biggest thing is when I talk about a subject I can get out all the points that I want to try and really verify what I’m saying, which is hard to do,” he said. “Now, there’s talk shows on ESPN and all that where they get to talk forever.

“But the pregame show, it’s tight, there’s a lot of stuff going on. So you can never really jump into just one subject and just really lay it out and make everybody understand why the Jets are losing, or why the Giants are winning, or whatever it is that we’re talking about.”

Matt said he thinks his father’s TV experience translates well to podcasting, but podcasting lets him be freer in his discussion.

“What’s great is with my father, in all of his experience on television calling games and doing studio stuff, I think he still has that great presence about him on our podcast while still being able to be, I think, a little more open and let his character show a little more naturally in not quite as tight of a window, compared to television where, as he would say, ‘You have 10 seconds, go, make your point and that’s it, we’re going to commercial.’ I think those things are very enjoyable for us, to really elaborate on certain topics that are of interest to ourselves.”

Phil said working with Matt has been fun both for showing off their interactions and for Matt’s different perspective from the era he played in (he had NFL stints from 2012-19 , while the elder Simms’ playing career ran from 1979-93 ).

“He’s got a good sense of humor,” Phil said. “He likes to try and make fun of me, I enjoy that. He brings just a different look, you know? He played in the NFL enough where it’s still kind of in his blood or in his mind.

“I remember what I remember, and I remember a lot. But boy, we’re talking about such a different time that it’s maybe not all relevant. So he brings different things, and really just a great knowledge.”

Matt said he also appreciates his dad’s different perspective.

“It’s definitely a real thing, and it’s definitely something that we both enjoy having those conversations about,” the former Tennessee quarterback said. “We did play in different eras of the game. At the same time, the game is still very similar.

“But there are also a lot of aspects that have changed. And of course, so have the characters and the people that are involved with it. I think it’s a fun conversation; we kind of bring those worlds together.”

The Simms men have things in common too, including both playing quarterback and bringing a quarterback’s perspective (which involves considering things other than just quarterback play at times) to this podcast.

“With us being former quarterbacks, we always kind of look at it through that lens,” Matt said. “And especially with our New York media, I think we do a great job of educating the fan on the bigger picture, while with today’s media it’s always ‘It’s the quarterback, it’s the quarterback, it’s the quarterback.’

“We do our best to kind of explain why quarterbacks are struggling: what’s the situation, was the matchup favorable, does the offense do things to help the quarterback out? I think there’s a really fun and interesting conversation that typically a lot of people on television don’t do as much today.”

A lot of their podcast involves discussion of the Giants and Jets, which Matt said works because of their connections to the area and the amount of drama around those franchises.

“You don’t have enough time to discuss all the things that you really want to talk about for the Jets and the Giants,” he said. “I think we’re fans of the organizations, my father obviously being someone who moved from Kentucky and became a New Yorker, a New Jersey guy, through time and experience.

“And me being born and raised here, those organizations are very near and dear to our heart, and we care tremendously about them. And even when things aren’t going well, I think we like to see that the cup is still half-full; we’re optimists in that sense, and are trying to motivate the fans to not just jump ship so quickly, which is tough in this area.”

Phil said their background there, and the connections they have with those organizations, helps them get more on the radar for fans of those teams.

“We’ve lived in this area. I’ve been up here for what, 45 years now? So I think Giants’ and Jets’ fans are going to listen to us.”

Matt said the podcast started more generally, but has become more focused on those teams, as well as some on QB play across the league.

“When we first started, it was more just general comments, things that came up week-to-week. As we’ve continued to do it, I think we’ve narrowed down our focus a little bit more to the father-son dynamic and talking about the quarterback position, and then extending from there to our hub of the New York area and talking Jets and Giants.

“That’s kind of how it’s evolved from Day 1 until now. And I think that’s the cool thing about podcasts too; you never really know exactly what it is, you just have the freedom and the ability and the mobility to try new things and talk about different things through a different lens.”

On that QB play across the league, Matt said it’s also been excellent working with Bleav. That’s included podcast promotion and going on other network shows, often to discuss those teams’ quarterbacks.

“It’s been great. Bleav’s been very supportive of us. They’re just helping us out tremendously with the show and getting us in front of different fans and groups. I love the fact too that the Bleav family is so large on a national scale; even my father and I make appearances on other shows that are focused on the Jaguars, or the Bengals, or the Chargers, or whoever it may be.

“We’ve become their pseudo quarterback gurus who go on other shows to talk about those teams’ quarterbacks. It’s been really fun and enjoyable, and a pleasure to get to know a lot of the people who are covering teams across the country.”

As for his own podcasting evolution, Phil said he’s become more comfortable with the medium over time.

“I think I’m getting the hang of it more and more as we go along, trying to always say what I think but say what I’ve learned. That’s the biggest thing.”

Read on for Phil’s critique of Total QBR-focused media, Matt’s thoughts on why he didn’t want to work in media at first, and more.

The post Phil and Matt Simms talk doing ‘Simms Complete’ podcast together: ‘Our Field of Dreams’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .