Editing Phil Simms (section)

===Later career: 1987–1993===
Simms performed well in the strike-shortened [[1987 NFL season]], finishing with the second highest [[quarterback rating]] in the NFC.<ref name="The Football Database">[http://www.footballdb.com/stats.html?yr=1987&lg=NFL&conf=&mode=P 1987 NFL Statistic – Passing], footballdb.com. Retrieved January 1, 2007.</ref> He threw for 2,230 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.<ref name="dbf"/> He passed for 3,359 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while completing 54.9% of his passes in the [[1988 New York Giants season|1988 season]].<ref name="dbf"/> The Giants rebounded from a 6–9 record in 1987 to finish 10–6<ref name="NYG"/> but fell just short of the playoffs due to the NFL [[NFL playoffs#Current playoff system|tie-breaker system]]. In [[1989 New York Giants season|1989]], the Giants started 8–1 and finished 12–4, Simms passed for 3,061 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions on 56.3% completion percentage.<ref name="dbf"/> He performed consistently most of the season except for a two-game stretch against the [[1989 Philadelphia Eagles season|Eagles]] and [[1989 San Francisco 49ers season|49ers]] where he produced seven [[Turnover (football)|turnovers]], six of which resulted in points for the opposition.<ref>Neft, Cohen, and Korch. p. 894</ref> He also struggled in the Giants' playoff game against the [[1989 Los Angeles Rams season|Los Angeles Rams]], and the Giants lost 19–13. In [[1990 New York Giants season|1990]], Simms was having one of his finest seasons, leading the NFC with the highest [[quarterback rating]] (92.7)<ref name="The Football Database2">[http://www.footballdb.com/stats.html?yr=1990&lg=NFL 1990 NFL Statistic – Passing], footballdb.com. Retrieved January 1, 2007.</ref> and the Giants to an 11–3 record, but his season was cut short due to a broken foot suffered in the Week 15 game against the Giants' eventual [[Super Bowl XXV]] opponent, the [[1990 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills]]. The Giants defeated the Bills 20–19 in the Super Bowl with [[Jeff Hostetler]] filling in at quarterback.

After the Giants' Super Bowl victory, Parcells resigned and was replaced by the team's running backs coach, [[Ray Handley]].<ref name="Handley">Neft, Cohen, and Korch. p. 936</ref> One of Handley's first decisions was to select Hostetler as the team's starting quarterback following his performance in Super Bowl XXV.<ref name="Handley"/> Simms saw only spot action in two games prior to Week 13, when Hostetler broke his back in a game against the [[1991 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Tampa Bay Buccaneers]]. Simms finished the game and reclaimed the starting job, but won only once in his remaining four starts as the Giants failed to return to the playoffs at 8–8.

Simms was named the starter for the [[1992 New York Giants season|1992 season]] after beating out Hostetler for the job in preseason. Simms suffered a severe arm injury in a Week 4 loss to the [[1992 Los Angeles Raiders season|Los Angeles Raiders]] and missed the remainder of the season. Between the 1991 and 1992 seasons, he amassed a combined 1,905 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions while completing 59.3% of his passes.<ref name="dbf"/> The Giants finished the 1992 season at 6–10, which led to Handley's firing and the hiring of former Denver Broncos coach [[Dan Reeves]]. As part of an overall house cleaning, Reeves released Hostetler and named Simms his starting quarterback.<ref>{{cite news | last=Smith | first=Timothy W. | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/16/sports/football-giants-tell-simms-that-he-s-the-boss.html | title=FOOTBALL; Giants Tell Simms That He's The Boss | work=The New York Times | date=June 16, 1993 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref> Simms started all 16 games in 1993, being one of only seven quarterbacks to do so, and led the Giants to a resurgent [[1993 New York Giants season|11–5 season]] including a victory over the [[1993 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]] in the playoffs.<ref name="1993NYG">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081228004722/http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=NYG&lg=nfl&yr=1993 1993 New York Giants]}}, databasefootball.com, accessed May 9, 2007.</ref> He underwent shoulder surgery after the [[1993 NFL season]] to repair a [[Glenoid labrum|torn labrum]]. The surgery was successful, and team doctor Russell F. Warren's prognosis for recovery was excellent, and Simms was expected to be ready in time for training camp.<ref name="The New York Times Online Archives">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E1DC123AF931A35750C0A962958260 PRO FOOTBALL; Simms's Surgery Goes Well], ''The New York Times'', March 2, 1994. Retrieved January 1, 2007.</ref> However, later during that offseason, Simms was released by the Giants, and subsequently decided to retire. Upon his release, co-owner [[Wellington Mara]] called it "a day of overwhelming sadness.".<ref>Pervin. p. 107</ref> In an interview in the 2024 documentary "The Duke: The Giant Life of Wellington Mara", Simms recalled that Mara didn't agree with the decision to let him go and was willing to make changes to the front office to ensure Simms stayed, but Simms declined saying it would just make it worse.

Simms considered playing for the [[Arizona Cardinals|Cardinals]] in 1994 and the [[Cleveland Browns|Browns]] in 1995, but eventually decided to stay retired.<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Timothy W.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/03/sports/pro-football-deal-with-browns-simms-passes-for-now.html|title=Deal With Browns? Simms Passes, for Now|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 3, 1995|access-date=September 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/27/sports/pro-football-cardinals-and-simms-call-things-off.html|title = PRO FOOTBALL; Cardinals and Simms Call Things off|newspaper = The New York Times|date = September 27, 1994|last = Smith|first = Timothy W.}}</ref>

In his 14 seasons with the Giants, Simms completed 2,576 out of 4,647 passes for 33,462 yards and 199 touchdowns.<ref name="dbf">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070527002259/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SIMMSPHI01 Phil Simms]}}, databasefootball.com, accessed May 9, 2007.</ref> His career passing yardage total ranked him at 11th in NFL history at the time of his retirement.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_yds_career_1993.htm | title=NFL Career Passing Yards Leaders Through 1993 | website=Pro-Football-Reference.com | access-date=February 21, 2020}}</ref> He added 349 carries for 1,252 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground.<ref name="dbf"/> He set team records for most passes completed and attempted in one game (40 and 62, respectively), season (286, 533), and career (2,576, 4,647), most career touchdown passes (199) and most 300-yard games in a career (21).<ref>[http://www.nfl.com/writers/simms Phil Simms] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506133515/http://www.nfl.com/writers/simms |date=May 6, 2007 }}, [[NFL.com]], accessed May 9, 2007.</ref> Simms still owns some of the New York Giants passing records, although [[Eli Manning]] has surpassed most of them: season passes (387 completed, 618 attempted), career completed passes (4,895), career touchdowns (366), career 300-yard games (53).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/career-passing.htm | title=New York Giants Career Passing Leaders | website=Pro-Football-Reference.com | access-date=February 21, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.footballdb.com/players/eli-manning-manniel01/300-yard-passing-games | title=Eli Manning 300-Yard Passing Games | website=FootballDB.com | access-date=February 21, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' considered Simms to be the "Most Underrated Quarterback" in NFL history in their August 27, 2001, issue entitled, "The Most Overrated and Underrated".<ref name="Sports Illustrated"/>