A retired star hits post

Justin Simmons spent nine years as a Broncos safety and made second-team All-Pro four times. Monday night he watched his old team play the Chiefs and reached for his phone.

Why Cooper wasn't playing

Joe Buck told viewers that Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper sat on the NFL exempt list, awaiting a Nov. 10 trial on four charges including felony second-degree assault by strangulation.

The comparison he drew

Simmons argued ESPN was airing his former teammate's legal trouble while the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini story went unmentioned on TV. He posted it as a double standard.

The replies arrived fast

People pointed out the obvious gap. Even if the Vrabel relationship was morally messy, nothing about it was illegal, and no abuse allegation is headed to a courtroom.

Then he dug deeper

Instead of backing off, Simmons turned media critic and told the Monday Night Football crew to stick to the field. His logic was that Cooper wasn't there, so he was off limits.

“The MNF crew is paid to cover THE GAME not the players who are not playing or even at the game.”

The rule he invented

Under that standard, anyone absent from the stadium becomes unmentionable, including a player who would be suiting up if he hadn't been arrested, charged, and suspended.

Caught off guard by pushback

Simmons had a clean career and rarely took public heat, so the pile-on surprised him. He conceded an affair isn't a conviction, then restated the same broadcast rule anyway.

“I have hella people in my comments (mainly Pats fans) saying an affair is not the same as an ALLEGED conviction.”

The premise was false too

NBC covered the Russini-Vrabel scandal when the Patriots opened against Seattle, even slotting it into an illustrated timeline of the team's offseason.