If it was a popularity contest Simms wins hands down. Anyone who has spent any significant time with either player will point out that Simms has Major beat in the charisma department. Why did Mack Brown pick Simms over Applewhite? He was the better choice. The fact is that Brown did a horrible job dealing with the situation and should have just come out and said it without worrying about saving face for Applewhite. Anyone with any real understanding of football knows that Simms was a better choice. He lead the Bucs to the Playoffs! He was a legit NFL QB. He played most of a game with a ruptured spleen. Major was not a NFL caliber QB. Major's biggest problem was he needed time to make the right throw. Simms didn't need as much time to make the same throw. Simms had a gun. That's why Simms was picked over Applewhite. It's why Simms had a better record than Applewhite as starting QB. In those days defenses would pressure and blitz us often and we were incapable of blocking them. Simms provided Texas the chance of throwing the ball more often for completions under those circumstances. The 14-3 OU loss is horrible. However Simms made the correct read on that play. If Robins had made the block it would have been a TD. OU's Roy Williams gambled and blitzed even though it wasn't called. This left a man WIDE open who would not have been caught. Problem is Roy Williams beat Robin and looked like The Man. Robin makes that block and Simms is a hero. Simms is the 3rd winningest QB in Texas history. It's about time ignorant fans were educated on just how great he was for this university.
