Chris Simms expresses regret for insensitive comments about Tua Tagovailoa’s superfan for receiving $10,000 donation - “Disappointed in myself”
Former NFL quarterback and Pro Football Talk co-host Chris Simms has apologized for his remarks on the late TuAnon founder Eric Carmona.
The eight-year NFL veteran said during a recent episode of Meadowlark Media's "God Bless Football" podcast:
"I'm disappointed in myself. You guys know me. I don't try to be a bad guy. I know I got a big mouth and opinions about football. I dropped the ball. I was insensitive. I didn't need to go that route.
"I let a bigger conversation take hold of me for a second, and it was the wrong time to bring it up. I meant no disrespect to Tua or the Carmona family at all, but that was totally bad timing and insensitive by me. I got no excuse. I'm sorry. That's all I can say."
TuAnon is a wordplay on the far-right conspiracy group QAnon as it supports Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The group's founder, Carmona, died in a motorcycle accident last week. His wife and four children survived him.
Why is Chris Simms critical of TuAnon?
Chris Simms has been on a collision course with Dolphins fans because of his hard-hitting commentary on Tagovailoa. Hall of Famer Phil Simms' son has ranked Tagovailoa among the league's worst starting quarterbacks because of his inconsistency and questionable arm strength.
The younger Simms' hatred for the former Alabama standout runs deep and he expressed dissent with Tagovailoa's donation to Carmona's family. The reason? Because Carmona trolled him a lot.
Chris Simms said:
“It’s a horrible thing, a horrible accident. He’s also a huge Tua fan. Also, a huge guy that trolled me a lot on Twitter.
“This is a deep subject, and I think it’s societal, and I won’t go into it because I’m only going to get myself in trouble. We’re also setting an example like, ‘Hey, here’s money to a guy who was very negative too.’ That’s all I’m saying.”
Here is the full context of Simms’ comments, and it’s not better.
He starts by saying it’s a nice gesture and a horrible thing, but then immediately goes into “he trolled me a lot.” Florio then goes into saying it’s better to be trolled than ignored because people are… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/AB3UrH8GzU
Conversely, "Pro Football Talk's" Mike Florio donated $2,500 to the GoFundMe page established for Carmona's family. TuAnon thanked him by tweeting:
“Thank you to Mike Florio for the donation. Eric always loved seeing himself on PFT, never truly hated you guys at all. He truly enjoyed being able to playfully critique you guys. Out of respect for Eric, we’re going to stay positive and enjoy the good times.”
Thank you to Mike Florio for the donation. Eric always loved seeing himself on PFT, never truly hated you guys at all. He truly enjoyed being able to playfully critique you guys. Out of respect for Eric we’re going to stay positive and enjoy the good times. https://t.co/bcnlk367Yz
Meanwhile, Tagovailoa's $10,000 donation is the biggest amount received. At the time of writing, the page had received over $111,000 from 2,200 donors. That amount is beyond the initial $100,000 goal.