Chris Simms apologizes for insensitive comments on prominent Dolphins fan 'TuAnon' following death
Chris Simms spoke ill of the dead and now is apologizing for it. In this case, the comments involved the late Eric Carmona, a Dolphins super fan who idolized Tua Tagovailoa.
Carmona died from injuries he suffered in a car wreck. He was on his way to work when the accident happened, June 1, near San Diego. Since then, Tagovailoa and Dolphins fans around the country have celebrated Carmona’s life and raised money to support his wife and four children. Carmona fell in love with the Dolphins when he was stationed in southern Florida during his stint in the Navy. And he created TuAnon, a social media account, and posted under the name FinsVicious.
This is how Chris Simms got involved in the story. A Tua donation to Carmona’s GoFundMe became a topic on a podcast co-hosted by Simms and Mike Florio. Simms said he knew Carmona as a “troll.” And there was some history between Simms and the Dolphins super fan. Simms has criticized Tagovailoa, ranking him on the lower end of league quarterbacks. Carmona liked to clap back after every negative Tua comment. And Simms brought that up when he died.
“He obviously was a huge Tua fan, also a huge guy that trolled me a lot on Twitter,” Chris Simms said. Florio interrupted his partner, but Simms stayed on topic.
“We’re also setting an example of like, hey, here’s money to a guy who’s very negative too,” Simms said. “That’s all I’m saying.”
Simms added: “It was tragic and I want to make it clear, RIP to him and his family. Like clearly … I love passionate fans, I do. There’s no doubt about it, alright, so I just want to make sure that’s clear.”
Simms also donated $1,000 to Carmona’s GoFundMe. A week later, he’s apologizing for his remarks.
“I’m disappointed in myself,” he said during an interview with God Bless Football podcast. “You guys know me. I don’t try to be a bad guy. I know I got a big mouth and opinions about football.”
Simms added: “I dropped the ball. I was insensitive (and) I didn’t need to go that route. I let a bigger conversation take ahold of me for a second and it was the wrong time to bring it up. (And) I meant no disrespect to Tua or the Carmona family at all, but that was totally bad timing and insensitive by me. (And) I got no excuse. I’m sorry. That’s all I can say.”
Meanwhile, the GoFundMe has raised more than $111,000.