Chef Simm,ons: A Lifetime of Achievement Chet Simmons has been in sports almost as long as television has been het Simmons never Brooklyn and smitten in sporn, building a legacy fim at NBCand later as one of the original cared about credits. He early on with the crew at ESPIl preferred to be the proud Dodgers. His father, father standing in the a manufacturer of launch, Simmons masterminded a back row while his kids women's dresses, was an emigre from programming coup. Unable to buy the acceptedCtheir awards. Now,five de. PO ~dand d1dD'tknow the difference rights to NFL games, he approached cades after first stamping his Vision between a puck and a baseball, so l'o.'FL commissioner Pete Rozelle about on sports television. Simmons is being Simmons' coUsins took him to Ebbets broadcasting the 1980draft. Rozelle called to the podium as the recipient Field. When his family moved to thought the idea was lunacy and of this year's Sports Emmy lifetime Westchester and then to New Engla~d, couldn't imagine fans tuning in. But achievement award. ''I'm looking he carried his allegiance with him. Simmons finally convinced Rozelle forward to the statuette with great "When we lived in Rhode Island.,.(d the idea would work. anticipation;: said.t:be repmtly retired sitmmYdad'~tat 'ciruseft was the Bob Ley anchored the draft from simrilOriS..'·•••.t tells me Fmbeingrec~ . onlY-plaCe~ecould get any reception ESPN's studio in Bristol. "Chet told ognized asa major contributor1:o the· - and rd do my homework while Scotty Connal (Simmons' right-hand industry- listening to the Dodger games." man), 'If this thing ain't working, let's No one is happier for Simmons than In 1979when an upstart sports cut our losses and get off the air: " Bob Ley,who began his distinguished network in Connecticut approached Ley recalled. "But we stayed on the air career under Simmons. "We were a Simmons about leaving the presidency froni 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and at the end of bunch of twenty·somethings, and yet of NBC Sports, he jumped at the offer. the day we were validated. Everyone Chet trusted us to get on the air and "You're a child and you l06k out your had to know who we were." stay on the air. When he said, ~tta window and all you see are toys that Chris Berman was another boy,' it meant something because other kids are playing with - that's witness to the event. "Chet was smart he had pedigree. He had done Super what ESPN was like for me." enough to know it was our only foot Bowls and World Series. The lifetime Hired two months before ESPN's in the door with the NFL back then. achievement award speaks to Chet's debut, Simmons was scared and And only seven years later, we were accomplishments and class." thrilled at the same time. "I thought, televising Sunday Night Football and As far back as the mid-1950s, how the heck are we going to do airing NFL Prime Time," recalled Simmons was convinced th~t sports this? We were building literally from Berman, who was a raw TV sports and television would have a long and scratch, laying the groundwork for reporter in Hartfol'tl. when he joined prosperous marriage. "When I started what was promising to be a major ESPN in 1979. in the business, it was the most sports network." As part of the brain trust that exciting time," he recalled. "It was the Simmons calls his tenure at ESPN created "SportsCenter," Simmons beginning of color, and that spawned one of the great periods of his life. wanted anchors who had "personality so many changes." But he still cringes at the memory and sports in their gut." He and Simmons was in on the ground floor of September 7, i979. "In our first Berman made a perfect match. "I of nearly every major development in live remote we put Jim Simpson on know he told everyone to leave me the industry. At ABC he helped launch the air to interview University of alone as I felt my way, seemingly in "Wide World of Sports;" at NBC Colorado coach Chuck Fairbanks. the dark. I am forever grateful!" he helped create the instant replay, Unfortunately, the live feed from Simmons' ingenuity and foresight and hired Merlin Olson and John Boulder had video but no audio. We helped shape TV sports at a time when Brodie, which began the trend of sat on that picture for God knows few people had any idea what the recruiting former athletes to be color how long and let Jim keep talking. We possibilities for sports programming commentators. He was instrumental showed lips moving, we showed an were. Said Berman, "Chet could watch in securing rights to NFL football, empty stadium from every angle, we TV at home and disassociate himself Wimbledon, Major League Baseball showed a tight shot of Jim, we showed from his job as ESPN president and and the Olympics, and at ESPN he a tight shot of Chuck, a medium shot just be a sports fan. It allowed him to 'was in on the cable revolution. of Jim, a medium shot of Chuck. I make the most intelligent decisions It made sense that Simmons would thought it would never end." for the network, ones that, to this day, wind up in sports. He was born in A few months after ESPN's we are benefiting from."