In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote CBS' Phil Simms after being replaced by Tony Romo in '17 was "in free-fall." However, Simms "picked himself up and kept grooving," and has since been "reinventing himself as a studio personality." In the studio, Simms’ persona is "magnified," and "more importantly, it comes naturally." After two years "working at the 'new' gig his transformation is complete, and a lot quieter than Romo’s" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/27).
FRIENDLY COMPLIMENTS: Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira said he "couldn’t be prouder" of the net's Troy Aikman. Pereira: "He studies rules, he studies interpretations, he seeks me out all the time during the week to ask me about plays. He has surprised me with the things that come out of his mouth when it comes to officiating. He’s tough on officials, but he really studied it and I think he’s become much more fair in regards to officiating." Pereira said Fox' longtime play-by-play man Joe Buck is "misunderstood," which is "frustrating." Pereira: "You just have to be around him to know that he works really hard at it. I wish all those people that criticize him could spend 10 minutes with Joe and find out what a good man and person he is. To me he’s clearly the best that I’ve ever been around" (N.Y. POST, 1/27).
CAPTAIN'S APPROVAL: In Indianapolis, Scott Horner noted Colts QB Andrew Luck "doesn't know much about his Twitter alter ego, @CaptAndrewLuck, the Civil War-era commander who has more than 500,000 followers." Luck said, "I don't know who it is. I'm certainly not clever enough to write that, but it's pretty cool. I'm glad people find a little bit of enjoyment about it when some other things on the internet can be a little meaner" (INDYSTAR.com, 1/27).
