Every husband knows some votes count more than others
New York Giants legend and Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms was willing to let rookie Abdul Carter wear the No. 11 jersey the team had retired in his honor. The Simms women, though, weren’t having it.
Phil Simms, who famously torched the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI, seemed open to passing his number on. In an interview with Cousin Sal on FaaL TV, he brushed it off with a humble shrug: “It wouldn’t bother me… I think it might be cool.” But that moment of generosity didn’t last long once word got back to the rest of the Simms household.
Chris Simms, Phil’s son and former NFL quarterback turned NBC analyst, recounted the saga on his show with Mike Florio. What started as a seemingly simple gesture spiraled into a full-on family intervention.
“The boys didn’t say anything,” Phil said. “But my agent? Don’t you dare give it up. And then came my wife and daughter…”
According to Chris, a Friday that began with grocery runs and a text from agent Drew Rosenhaus quickly turned into damage control. Carter’s camp wanted to call Phil directly to talk about the number, and Chris thought the deal was all but done. He even tipped off the social media team.
Then came the SpongeBob meme moment—you know, the one that says “Two hours later.”
“My sister’s at the house and she calls me, like, ‘Christopher! How dare you? I thought you were on my side!’ She hangs up on me,” Chris laughed. “Then my dad texts me, ‘Your mom and sister are just killing me.’”
Phil Simms was ultimately outvoted in his own home. Tears may or may not have been shed. And just like that, number 11 remains off-limits. Retired. Again.
This isn’t the first time a Giants legend has been approached about their number. Carter initially wanted Lawrence Taylor’s iconic number 56—Taylor shut that down fast.
In the end, Chris framed it best: “Take an irrelevant number, make it highly relevant, and maybe one day, they retire your number.”
As for Phil? He’s reportedly on vacation, out of the country, leaving Chris to do the damage control tour. “He’s not an egomaniac,” Chris added. “But he sure didn’t expect to get shut down in his own house.”
