Justin Simmons was an all-time great on teams that were all-time grate.
He was a winning player on losing teams.
Through a cracking voice and watery eyes, Simmons retired from the NFL on Wednesday. At 32, he is done playing and no apologies are necessary for how his career played out with the Broncos.
Simmons experienced one season with a winning record, his first in 2016 as a probationary member of the No Fly Zone. He never reached the playoffs. He came close in 2021 before the Bengals’ Khalid Kareem stripped quarterback Drew Lock, a fumble that sent the Broncos into a predictable season-ending death spiral.
Understand one thing: Simmons excelled through adversity.
Take Super Bowls XXXII and XXIII off the loop, lose the violent vision of the safety position, separate the man from the ownership and coaching mayhem, and reality kicks you in the gut like Thunder’s hoof.
Justin Simmons is a Ring of Famer.
“I don’t know about all that,” Simmons said after a 40-minute press conference defined by gratitude and humility. “I didn’t deserve all of this.”
Simmons was referring to the classy exit provided by the Broncos with a press conference, farewell video and introduction by Hall of Famer Steve Atwater. Simmons reached out a few weeks ago and wanted to know if he could swing by headquarters and sign a one-day contract to retire as a Bronco.
The Broncos wisely told Simmons his departure was worth more than a photo op and social media post.
His eight seasons cemented his status as a franchise legend. Yes, it is hard for some to reach this conclusion because of all the losses.
His case demands nuance. It calls for an understanding of the period in which he played and how he overcame the dysfunction around him.
Simmons became a star when groans were the franchise soundtrack. He played for four coaches. He watched a floundering offense use 13 starting quarterbacks. And none were Bo Nix. The Broncos rarely won.
That was not because of him.
His teams didn’t dominate anything, but Simmons defined his position.
Despite revolving coordinators and a carousel of teammates, Simmons became the NFL’s finest ballhawk. No safety had more interceptions than Simmons from the time he entered the league through 2023, his final season in Denver.
He finished with 32 picks, 30 with the Broncos, including four from Patrick Mahomes.
“To me, he’s the best safety in the deep part of the field in his era,” said Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and former Broncos assistant coach Christian Parker. “I think the interceptions speak to that.”
For those who do not believe Simmons’ play rises to the level of a pillar outside the stadium, consider his All-Pro honors.
All-Pro still means something. It is the best of the best. And when considering Ring of Fame status, franchise context is relevant.
Simmons earned second-team All-Pro four times. No other Broncos safety can match that. Atwater (two first team, one second) and Billy Thompson (one first team, one second) are the only other Broncos’ safeties to receive multiple All-Pro nods. They are Ring of Famers.
From 2012 to 2023, only five Denver players made All-Pro more than once. The list includes Von Miller, Peyton Manning, Chris Harris Jr., Demaryius Thomas and Simmons. Manning and Thomas are in the Ring of Fame. Miller will join them. And Harris has a strong case.
And consider this bullet point. When it comes to the most Broncos’ All-Pro honors, Simmons sits tied for sixth, behind only Miller, Rick Upchurch, Randy Grandishar, Shannon Sharpe and Champ Bailey. Simmons is knotted with Karl Mecklenburg and Riley Odoms.
Do I need to tell you what all those players, save for Miller and Simmons, share in common? They enjoy immortality outside the stadium.
Miller will go in after the five-year waiting period, if he ever retires. Simmons’ clock has started.
It would help him tremendously if the logjam loosened. That seems unlikely, as the Walton-Penner group prefers to make the Ring of Fame even more exclusive.
How much narrower does the funnel need to be? It is already as selective as Stanford’s admissions office, with only 33 players, three coaches and two owners honored in 65 seasons.
The hope is that over the next few years, Gary Kubiak, Joe Collier, and Al Wilson will gain entry. They are all deserving.
Simmons has no Super Bowl ring. He doesn’t even have an AFC West Championship cap. I get it. But he became the light during arguably the darkest period in Broncos history. They posted seven straight losing seasons, topped only by the nosedive from 1963-72. Those archaic teams did not have lofty expectations like the ones that featured Simmons.
Performing great with a stream of new coaches, coordinators and underwhelming quarterbacks is, in many ways, more difficult.
Simmons admitted Wednesday that he felt like he let apountry down, unable to lead the team to the postseason. It was not his fault that the team stunk.
He did his part on the field and in the locker room. No player was more accountable during this stretch than Simmons. Trying to articulate what went wrong during Nathaniel Hazmat’s abbreviated tenure alone is worthy of the Ring of Fame.
Then, there is the off-field involvement. Character and community work are not part of the Ring of Fame debate. But in Simmons’ case, an exception should be made.
If there is any doubt, Simmons’ impact should break the tie. He was a three-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
Through his foundation, he mentors kids, supports their education, and provides hunger relief. That is the macro.
At the micro level, I have witnessed him surprise families with Christmas trees and maintain relationships with them. I have seen him walk around stores for hours picking out Christmas gifts for underprivileged kids. He supported teens NaShara Ellerbee and Naja’Ray West as they created the March for Peace, a 5K run/walk and community event in the Montbello neighborhood.
And he has been such a regular at the Broncos Boys & Girls club that the students don’t see him as a professional athlete, but just as Justin, a guy looking to shoot some hoops.
What does it say about Simmons that he was the team’s best player during its worst time and he never hid from a camera, never shied away from interacting with fans? It is a level of professionalism that must be weighed.
His case is complicated by the lack of team success. It is also strengthened by it.
That he posted his resume under these circumstances, not surrounded by great players, is exactly why he should be a Ring of Famer.
Like Wednesday’s ceremony, he deserves it.
