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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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For a few hours on Saturday night, NBC’s Chris Simms was the most-hated sports analyst on social media.
Simms stirred up a social media firestorm with remarks he made during halftime of the Oregon-USC game, in which he blamed Ducks quarterback Dante Moore for the violent hit that sent him to the hospital.
"It was a Debbie Downer moment," Simms said. "I guess you have to have a soft spot in your heart for defenders right now. Dante Moore is 6-3, 240 pounds, he's running at you. The defender Stephens is bracing himself, getting ready to get low to make the tackle.
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“So, yes, you as a defender have to know in this day and age that you have to be careful with the quarterback. But I'm going to also say, Dante Moore, I do think he slid very late and put the defender in a kind of no-win situation."
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After less than 24 hours of fans coming at him and flooding his mentions, Simms took to social media on Sunday to issue an apology for the insensitive comments he said about Moore’s injury.
“I’d like to take a moment to apologize to everyone for the way I handled the halftime last night between the Oregon Ducks and the USC Trojans,” Simms stated. “I clearly did not show enough sympathy for the situation, just diving right into football stuff. And I am sorry for that. I love college football.
“I want to apologize to all college football fans out there, especially the Oregon Duck fans. I got great respect for the Oregon Ducks, and Dante Moore, if anyone’s seen anything I’ve said, is one of my favorite players in all of college football.
“… I got great respect for Dan Lanning and what he does for that Oregon Duck football organization. I mishandled it, and I was wrong, and I’m sorry for that. I do have tremendous sympathy for the situation as a guy who almost died on the field from a hard hit 20 years ago. I understand the game, how brutal it can be, and how we have to protect each other on the football field.”
Though some fans haven’t been quick to forgive Simms — they’re claiming he’s only apologizing because of the backlash he received — he at least acknowledged what he said was inappropriate and he knows he was in the wrong.
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