Former Texas QB Chris Simms: 'I may have gotten a few $100 handshakes'
There were definitely some perks to playing for the Longhorns, says Chris Simms.
The former Texas quarterback, who attended the school from 1999-2002, revealed that, although he didn't exactly get paid to play, he did get some extra cash during his time there.
"They didn't pay me, but there may have been cash going around to some other players," Simms said on CBSSports Radio's Tiki and Tierney on Thursday. "I'm not going to deny that. I may have gotten a few $100 handshakes every now and then to sign some autographs for alumni."
To be clear, the former Longhorn is the son of retired NFL quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Phil Simms, so he wasn't struggling to make ends meet in college. Still, extra money is always nice when you're young.
"I don't care how rich your upbringing was," Simms said. "Yes, I grew up with a silver spoon, but if you give me a few extra ($100 bills) as a college kid, that's great."
Simms was back on the radio to clarify his comments Friday, making sure to note that no one from the Longhorns program paid him outside of those handshakes, even if "there may have been cash going around to some other players ... I'm not going to deny that."
Simms said he got two $100 handshakes.
"It was not prearranged like, 'Hey, can you come here and sign some autographs for me and I'll give you money?' No, this was outside of the University of Texas campus. This was not on campus.
"The city of Austin is full of Texas alumni. Guys I would see around, at a restaurant or whatever it would be, this just happened to be, yes, a Texas alumni at a restaurant, had a few jerseys. 'Hey Chris, can you come over and sign a few jerseys for me?' I had met him and his son before. And of course, yeah, I signed the jerseys - not even worried about being paid - and then I got a $100 handshake, and I thought it was really cool.
"But to imply that Texas had anything to do with this, that's so crazy."
In his effort to separate the University of Texas from the shady doings, Simms put the rest of the nation on blast.
"This just in: There's $100 handshakes going on at every Division I school in the nation - college (football), basketball. ... It's going on everywhere; it's part of really human nature in general.
"I hope I didn't get Texas in trouble because certainly Texas had nothing to do with that. Mack Brown ran as clean a program as you could possibly run.”
Simms was drafted in 2003 in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and spent time with the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos. He served as a coaching assistant with the New England Patriots in 2012.