Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, fed up with ESPN’s SportsCenter after their Instagram page mocked him, exploded with anger, snapping, “F*** you, SportsCenter.”
The brouhaha erupted after Simms compared injured Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to other star quarterbacks, saying, “There’s just no way he’s more valuable to his team than Mahomes, Burrow, or Allen. Those teams are not the same teams if they don’t have them at quarterback. If you put Gardner Minshew (in for) the Eagles, they’d still be really damn good.” That prompted the Sportscenter Instagram page to apparently mock Simms’ take after the Eagles subsequently stumbled with Minshew at quarterback.
“Jalen Hurts makes them better — I know that!” Simms snapped. “And like f***k you, SportsCenter Instagram for like putting it out there again for like the third time in like three weeks. Like f*** off. Like, really, f*** off, ESPN Sportscenter. Like seriously, they didn’t put my quote from after the Cowboys game, but they’re gonna wait till the game yesterday. That’s why I hate social media, and f*** you ESPN ‘SportsCenter’ one more time on the way out.”
“You wait till it’s relevant, you can slam someone —” Simms’ co-host interpolated.
“Do they not make content there anymore? I mean, stop jocking me, ESPN. Holy s***,” Simms continued.
Then he challenged, “Give me a piece of your check. Invite me on SportsCenter. Let’s have a f***ing conversation if you want to really get into this, SportsCenter. Invite me on, ESPN, you scared little babies. They’re scared. They don’t want any piece of me.”
The SportsCenter IG account reshared Chris Simms’ take from a few weeks ago that Jalen Hurts isn’t that valuable to the Eagles after this week’s loss and Simms lost it 😂 pic.twitter.com/5xQnpeYTOU
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) January 3, 2023
ESPN hired Omar Raja, the founder of the House of Highlights Instagram account, to improve their social media accounts, The New York Post noted.
“In his first year since joining ESPN in January 2020, the ‘SportsCenter’ Instagram account attracted record-high engagement with over 20 million followers (up +25% year-over-year), 1.76 billion total actions (+115%), and 373,000 actions per post (up +75%),” Raja’s ESPN bio states. “The account also serves fans at the intersection of sports and culture, attracting the attention and praise from some of the biggest athletes and celebrities in sports and entertainment. Raja also plays a key role in ESPN’s TikTok content strategy, which has grown to over 14 million followers in just two years.”
Hurts’ shoulder was injured in the Dec. 18 game the Eagles played in Chicago against the Chicago Bears. The Eagles were the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot, but in order for them to clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed they must win their regular-season finale against the New York Giants on Sunday.