QB Simms finally feeling like his old self

When the moment of truth finally arrived for Chris Simms, he was so overcome with relief he nearly lost control of his emotions.

By STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published January 8, 2008

TAMPA - When the moment of truth finally arrived for Chris Simms, he was so overcome with relief he nearly lost control of his emotions.

The Bucs quarterback said Monday that it had been so long since he felt like himself - since his spleen was removed in September 2006 - he thought the moment might never come.

"There were times where, trust me, I said, 'I don't know if I'm ever going to be back the way I was before the injury,'" Simms said in his first interview in months. "But the last month and a half, I've been throwing a lot, and I have no reason to think I won't be my old self."

"The time I threw and everything felt normal, I almost cried." Although his wounds had healed, the process of playing again proved much longer because of aftereffects of the invasive surgery. After his struggles in training camp, Simms said, he finally got a handle on his issues in recent months with the help of Dr. Tony Galea, a Toronto exercise physiologist.

"I just basically found out that it's a pretty common thing with traumatic surgery," said Simms, 27. "I had a lot of muscles that were shut off around the scar. The body knows to shut off the muscles to protect the scar. So that's why I lost power and didn't feel like myself throwing the ball."

Simms was placed on injured reserve in October when a rash of injuries made a fourth quarterback on the active roster unfeasible. And, as Simms said, "Quite honestly, I wasn't ready to go anyway. I have no problem with that whole situation."

Simms' status remains unknown. The Bucs aren't likely to go another season with four quarterbacks, but Simms is under contract for 2008.

"I see myself back here, hopefully," he said. "It's not all up to me. I'm just going to continue to worry about the things I can control."

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 23:58:45]