tiggerpolice |
03-19-2006 07:08 PM |
TAKING A CHANCE ON SIMMONS
The Saints have come to terms with veteran outside linebacker Anthony Simmons and that signing certainly brings the Saints a player who was a Pro Bowl performer.
The question is how much gas the veteran has left in his tank after sustaining a few injuries and sitting out the 2005 season.
Simmons has started at both inside and outside linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks and at one time ex-Saints general manager Randy Mueller picked him as the most underrated "big-time" player in pro football.
"If I had a vote I would pick Anthony Simmons," Mueller told me during a lunch near draft time in 2002. "Anthony has to be handled just right, but he has the whole package you want in a linebacker. He’s fast, instinctive, he thinks quickly on his feet and he has a knack for finding a way to wedge himself into angles to get to the ballcarrier. He’s also a real good cover guy. He plays the game with a chip on his shoulder and some coaches don’t understand this and may take him wrong. He is not a bad person at all, but he needs to be handled the right way and I wonder if that will happen now in Seattle."
Let’s hope that the same Simmons Mueller talked about in early 2002 has many of those same traits left in 2006 for the Saints.
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs....603190329/1032
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