20 most hyped college football recruits of all-time
By Dustin Hull
8. Chris Simms
Yet another son to a once-prestigious quarterback, Chris Simms seemed like the surest thing since taxes coming out of high school.
With the weight of the college football world on him, Simms first committed to Tennessee where many thought he’d be able to fill the enormous shoes Peyton Manning had recently left behind. But in one of the most scrutinized decisions in recruiting history, he backed out of playing for the Volunteers and chose to play at Texas instead.
Recruiters thought he’d be the best lefty quarterback since Steve Young, and before Simms had even played for the Longhorns he had been on the cover of close to a dozen national magazines. He was both loved and hated by the nation without having taken a snap in college. Even Simms admits that alumni were willing to pay money for autographs. He was just that big of a deal in a place where football was and forever will be king.
At 6’4” and 225 pounds, the USA Today national player of the year was put on a pedestal few could ever live up to, but for Simms, he never even got close in Austin. He proved very mistake-prone and was often found on the bench in favor of Major Applewhite through the first three years of his college career.
Next: John Elway