Chet Simmons: Difference between revisions

| birth_name = Chester "Chet" Robert Simmons

| imagename = =

| captionimage =

| image_sizecaption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|7|11}}

| birth_place = [[New York City]], United[[New York (state)|New York]], StatesU.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|3|25|1928|7|11}}

| death_place = [[Atlanta]], United[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], StatesU.S.

| occupation = [[Executive (management)|Sports Television Executive]]

| years_active = 1952–2010

| known_for = [[ESPN]]<br>[[United States Football League]]<br>[[NBC Sports]]<br>[[ABC Sports]]<br>[[Sports Programs Inc.]]<br>[[Dancer Fitzgerald]]

'''Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons''' (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive. He worked at [[ABC Sports]], [[NBC Sports]] and [[ESPN]], and was the first Commissioner of the [[United States Football League|USFL]]. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in sports programming and was a key part of the development of ''[[Wide World of Sports (American TV program)|Wide World of Sports]]''. He joined NBC Sports in 1964, where he stayed for 15 years becoming the first President in 1977. At NBC, he pioneered [[instant replay]] and coverage of the [[NBC Olympic broadcasts|Olympics]] and [[College Basketball on NBC Sports|NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four]]. In 1979, he left NBC to join the soon to launch ESPN becoming its second President.<ref name="secondprezespn">[{{Cite web |url=http://www.espnfounder.com/birth_of_espn.htm |title="Chet Simmons, long-time president of NBC Sports had become ESPN's president." ESPNFounder.com] |access-date=2010-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927020816/http://www.espnfounder.com/birth_of_espn.htm |archive-date=2018-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At ESPN, he oversaw the launch of the Networknetwork, the development of ''[[SportsCenter]]'', the first broadcasts of the [[NFL Draft]], coverage of the early rounds of the [[ESPN College Basketball|NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four]] and the development of [[Chris Berman]], [[Bob Ley]], [[George Grande]], [[Greg Gumbel]] and [[Dick Vitale]]. In 1982, he became the first Commissioner of the [[United States Football League]] and led it through three Championshipschampionships and players including [[Herschel Walker]], [[Jim Kelly]], [[Reggie White]], [[Steve Young]] and [[Anthony Carter (basketball)|Anthony Carter]].

He is the 2005 recipient of the [[Sports Lifetime Achievement Award|Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award]] and a member of the [[University of Alabama]] College of Communications and Information Sciences Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010.

Born in New York City on July 11, 1928, Simmons was raised in [[Ossining (town), New York|Ossining, New York]], and [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]].<ref name="rsandomirnyt">[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/sports/27simmons.html?ref=obituaries Sandomir, Richard. "Chet Simmons, a Founding Force of ESPN, Dies at 81," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, March 27, 2010.]</ref> His father Leonard Simmons, a Polish immigrant, manufactured women's [[house dress]]es. His mother Rose "Kitty" Suffin was a first-generation American. Chet went to West High School in Pawtucket where he played baseball, football, and cards. His love for sports began when he was a child listening to [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] games on the family car's radio.<ref name="asarkissiansmn">[http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-03-26/broadcast-pioneer-simmons-dies-81 Sarkissian II, Arek. "Broadcast pioneer Simmons dies at 81," ''Savannah Morning News'', Friday, March 26, 2010.]</ref> After high school, he first attended [[George Washington University]] but later transferred to the [[University of Alabama]] where he [[graduation|graduated]] with a [[bachelor's degree]] in [[broadcasting]] in 1950. He went on to receive a [[Master of Science]] in television from [[Boston University]].<ref name="tuscaloosa">[{{Cite web |url=http://uanews.ua.edu/2006/09/two-prominent-media-leaders-to-be-inducted-into-cis-hall-of-fame-at-ua/ |title="Two Prominent Media Leaders to be Inducted into C&IS Hall of Fame at UA," The University of Alabama, Thursday, September 28, 2006.] |access-date=March 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606014209/http://uanews.ua.edu/2006/09/two-prominent-media-leaders-to-be-inducted-into-cis-hall-of-fame-at-ua/ |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> While in college, Simmons became a brother of [[Alpha Epsilon Pi]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dashefsky|first=Arnold|title=American Jewish Year Book 2012|year=2012|publisher=Springer|page=409|isbn=9789400752047|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MChymxEfdsC&pg=PA409&lpg=PA409&dqq=chet+simmons+aepi&source=bl&ots=J4DLvYu2k1&sigpg=i7pJn7lwHWAr-A9coFXTNCR0s6M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3YPhUrDgAvfJsQSczYFo&ved=0CGsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=chet%20simmons%20aepi&f=falsePA409}}</ref> He served in the [[United States Coast Guard]] after completing his [[graduate school|graduate studies]].<ref name="firstprezespn">[httphttps://sportswww.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5029041&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines "Former ESPN president dies at 81," ESPN.com, Friday, March 26, 2010.]</ref> While in the Coast Guard, he was stationed in Cape May and was the Sportssports Editoreditor of the Coast Guard's Newspaper. Following his Coast Guard assignment, he started his media career in NYC at advertising agency [[Dancer Fitzgerald Sample]] the Ad Agency.<ref name="rsandomirnyt"/>

Simmons and his wife Harriet met in NYC where she was working as a medical technologist. Harriet was born and raised in [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], with roots in [[Savannah, Georgia]]. Their first date included the Elbow Room at the Beekman Towers, and her finishing his meal. They were married in Brentwood, New York, at Simmons' uncle's farm in 1956. Harriet and Chet started their life together in Queens, New York, while Simmons was working in Manhattan in the ad agency business and then later at Sports Programs Inc. founded by Edgar Sherick and later merged into create ABC Sports. While living in Jericho, Long Island, their first child Pam was born in 1959 (the same year the Dodgers beat the White Sox to win the World Series) and then Jed in 1960 (the same year the US won Olympic Gold in Men's Ice Hockey in Squaw Valley). With his growing life in sports, the family moved to Manhattan, where Pete was born in 1969 (the same year the Jets won [[Super Bowl III]] and the Mets won the World Series, both broadcast live on NBC Sports). While still with NBC, Chet and Harriet settled in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1971 and had Nicole (Nikki) in 1972 (the year NBC Sports televised the XI Olympic Games in Sapparo, Japan). In 1979, the family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, as the opportunity of ESPN unfolded in Bristol. The USFL called for a return to NYC and life in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1982. Harriet and Chet moved to Savannah in 1986, and settled on Tybee Island in 1992.

Simmons was an avid New York Yankees, Dodgers (starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field) and Alabama Crimson Tide fan. He loved listening to Mel Allen and Vin Scully on the radio and Tony Kubek, Joe Gargiola, Jack Buck, Greg Gumble and Chris Schenkel. He loved watching SportsCenter, the NFL draft, the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Championships and all the talent he helped discover and develop. He loved the beach, to smoke cigars, a good laugh, pens, his dogs, Jazz, the Blues, spy novels, and all things London. He was a favorite of Elaine's Restaurant in NYC. He was especially close to his four children and their spouses, Pam and Randy, Jed and [[John C. Portman Jr.#Personal life|Jana]], Pete and Gaby, and Nikki and Micah, and nine grandchildren, Zach, Ella, Claudia, Streeter, Ben, Zander, Jack, Reid, and Tyler.

In 1957, while working at the ad agency [[Dancer Fitzgerald Sample]], Simmons accepted an invitation from [[Edgar Scherick]] to join [[Sports Programs Inc.]],<ref name="rsandomirnyt"/> which would evolve into [[ESPN on ABC|ABC Sports]] four years later.<ref name="firstprezespn"/> Along with Sherick and Roone Arledge, Simmons help pioneer ABC Sports to become the leader in Sports Television in the United States with the creation of Wide World of Sports and full coverage of the Olympics. While at ABC Sports, he became Vicevice Presidentpresident and Generalgeneral Managermanager of Programingprograming. Called by colleague [[Roone Arledge]] "the sanest of my office mates", Simmons played a major role in laying the groundwork for helping ABC to carve its own niche in the world of network sports.<ref name="rsandomirnyt"/>

Slightly more than five weeks prior to [[ESPN]]'s official launch on September 7, 1979, Simmons joined as [[President (corporate title)|President]]<ref name="secondprezespn" /> bringing along fellow NBC Sports executive and long time friend [[Scotty Connal]] to head production and operations. Leaving the prestige and comfort of NBC Sports was natural for Simmons and Connal who strongly believed in the idea of a 24-hour sports network. However, at the time cable and satellite channels were just in their infancy with HBO launching in 1975 and CNN yet to go on the air. Simmons and Connal and the young ESPN team got the network up on time launching with the first SportsCenter hosted by [[George Grande]] and [[Lee Leonard]] followed by a slow-pitch softball game. Together, Simmons and Connal led the company through its infancy building a first class operation in Bristol, Connecticut.<ref name="apsimmonsobit">[http://wjz.com/wireapentertainment/Sports.broadcasting.pioneer.2.1590572.html "Sports Broadcasting Pioneer Simmons Dies At 81," ''The Associated Press'', Thursday, March 25, 2010.]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During his three years, Simmons gave start to some of ESPNs most important franchises including SportsCenter, The NFL Draft and full coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Additionally, he is credited for the hiring of [[Chris Berman]], [[Bob Ley]], [[Greg Gumbel]], [[Bryant Gumbel]], [[George Grande]], and many others. He left ESPN to become Commissioner of the [[USFL]] in 1982.

In July 2014, ''Forbes'' magazine named Simmons as one of 7 CEOs Who Took A Gamble and Scored. Included in the list are [[Bill Gates]] (Microsoft), [[Larry Page]] (Google), [[Steve Jobs]] (Apple), [[Larry Ellison]] (Oracle), [[Frederick W. Smith|Fred Smith]] (FedEx) and [[Karen Kaplan]] (Hill Holiday). "He left his stable position at NBC Sports in 1979 to become president of a new cable sports network dubbed ESPN. In his three years there, he turned the upstart 24-hour sports network into a powerhouse in the TV industry."<ref name="7CEOs">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140724032245/http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2014/07/22/7-ceos-who-took-a-gamble-and-scored/ "7 CEOs Who Took A Gamble and Scored" "Forbes", July 22, 2014.]</ref>

During Simmons time at ABC, NBC and ESPN, he helped discover, launch and develop the careers of some of the top announcers in Sports including [[Jim Simpson (sportscaster)|Jim Simpson]], [[Merlin Olsen]], [[Jim McKay]], [[Chris Schenkel]], [[Greg Gumbel]], [[Bryant Gumbel]], [[Dick Enberg]], [[Curt Gowdy]], [[Tony Kubek]], [[Joe Garagiola]], [[Sandy Koufax]], [[Vin Scully]], [[Bud Collins]], [[Donna de Varona]], [[Bucky Waters]], [[George Grande]], [[Chris Berman]], [[Bob Ley]], [[Tom Mees]], [[Dick Vitale]], [[Cliff Drysdale]], [[Sharon Smith (sportscaster)|Sharon Smith]], [[Tim Ryan (American football, born 1967)|Tim Ryan]], [[Marv Albert]], and [[Jack Buck]].

In June 1982, Simmons was appointed the first [[Commissioner]] of the [[United States Football League]] a month after its formation. The spring and summer time professional football league was founded by [[David Dixon (businessman)|David Dixon]], a New Orleans entrepreneur.<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.remembertheusfl.8m.com/chronology.html |title="The USFL Chronology".] |access-date=2014-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109052309/http://www.remembertheusfl.8m.com/chronology.html |archive-date=2014-11-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The League, headquartered in New York, launched with 12 teams in Philadelphia, Tampa, Washington, D.C., Birmingham, Oakland, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Michigan, Arizona Los Angeles, and New Jersey/New York. Owners included [[Myles Tannebaum]], [[John F. Bassett]], [[Alfred Taubman]], [[J. Walter Duncan]], and [[Bill Daniels]]. With Simmons success with the NFL Draft on ESPN, the League's first draft was held in NYC on January 4, 1983 where the [[Los Angeles Express (USFL)|Los Angeles Express]] selected quarterback [[Dan Marino]] of the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. Marino chooseschose to go pass on the Express and goessigned towith the [[Miami Dolphins]] of the [[National Football League|NFL]] who chose him 27th in the 1st Round.<ref>[http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?season=1983, "NFL Draft 1983"]</ref> Understanding the importance of big name players and coaches, the owners with Simmons and his top deputy [[Steve Erhart]] worked hard to land big names in the first year including running back [[Tim Spencer (American football)|Tim Spencer]] (Ohio State) who signed with the Chicago Blitz, [[Herschel Walker]] (University of Georgia) the New Jersey Generals (a three-year contract worth $1.2 million per year with a $1 million signing bonus, and ownership in one of J. Walter Duncan's oil wells),<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.remembertheusfl.8m.com/chronology.html |title=""The USFL Chronology".] |access-date=2014-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109052309/http://www.remembertheusfl.8m.com/chronology.html |archive-date=2014-11-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Greg Landry]] the Chicago Blitz, [[Chuck Fusina]] and [[Kelvin Bryant]] both with the Philadelphia Stars, [[Steve Spurrier]] to coach in Tampa Bay, [[George Allen (American football coach)|George Allen]] as the coach of the Chicago Blitz, [[Red Miller]] formerly of the Denver Broncos to coach the Denver Gold, and Canadian Football League coaching legends [[Ray Jauch]] joining the Washington Federals and [[Hugh Campbell]], joining the L.A. Express.<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.usfl.info/founding2.html |title="USFL.info In The Beginning".] |access-date=2014-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234211/http://www.usfl.info/founding2.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Due to Simmons' background in the Televisiontelevision, thetrthere was a perception that the USFL was a "made for television" entity. One of the USFL's first accomplishments under Simmons watch was the signing of a two-year contract with ESPN. It was the cable network's first-ever agreement with a [[sports league]] to televise select regular-season games. The USFL also had a two-year deal with ABC, consummated before Simmons' hiring.<ref name="houseofusher">[httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-16/sports/-sp-8583_1_harry8583-usherstory.html "LAOOC's Usher Replaces Simmons as the Commissioner of the USFL," ''The Associated Press'', Wednesday, January 16, 1985.]</ref><ref name="usfldotinfo">[{{Cite web |url=http://www.usfl.info/founding.html |title="In the Beginning..." &ndash;– USFL.info.] |access-date=2010-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203103237/http://www.usfl.info/founding.html |archive-date=2009-12-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The league incurred heavy financial losses and Simmons increasingly came under fire from some club owners for failing to negotiate a more lucrative [[television network|network television]] deal. On January 14, 1985, Simmons' resigned as Commissioner. He was replacing by [[Harry Usher]], an [[lawyer|attorney]] who had served as the [[vice president|executive vice president]] and [[general manager]] of the [[1984 Summer Olympics|Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee]].<ref name="houseofusher"/> After Simmons's departure, the league tried to move a traditional fall schedule for the 1986 season, but the USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. The USFL did win the case, but was awarded $1 in damages, and the league shut down.

[[Category:PeopleBusinesspeople from New York City]]

[[Category:Boston University College of CommunicationsCommunication alumni]]