Chris Simms pick up habit in Denver?: Red-eyed ex-Bronco arrested for driving on drugs

Simms as a Bronco.

Given the debate over whether Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow or Brady Quinn should start for the Broncos, it's easy to forget that last year, the Denver Post's Woody Paige actually called for Chris Simms to get the gig. Problem was, Simms sucked so hard when he got the chance to play that he earned a ticket out of town -- and now he's been busted for driving on drugs.

According to the Associated Press, Simms, who inked with the Tennessee Titans after the Broncos released him, was stopped by police in New York City early this morning. "Police say he appeared to be slurring speech and his eyes were red," the report maintains. "They say he had apparently been smoking marijuana."

Hey, pal: You're not in Colorado anymore -- so quit acting like you still are.

Simms' departure didn't happen until after last season ended, but the die was cast in mid-November, shortly after Paige sang his praises. In a game against the Washington Redskins, Orton, who'd been performing well, wrenched his ankle, giving Simms to chance to prove what he could do -- "which turned out to be nothing," I wrote in the post linked above.

The item continued like so:

Simms looked as if he wasn't sure what a football was, let alone how he should throw the damn thing. Even short outs proved to be beyond his current talents, at least on this day -- and realizing this, the Redskins were able to overload the line of scrimmage and shut down the running game, which had shown some legitimate signs of life during the first two quarters.

Lapses from the D, which is returning to earth following an incredibly fast start, certainly didn't help matters. But once again, they were left on the field too long, and Simms deserves the lion's share of the blame. For a while, he seemed as if he was going to find a way to actually register a negative quarterback rating. No such luck: He wound up with a 7.5 -- ineptitude on a cosmic level.

Could he have been stoned? Doubt it. There's no weed on the planet powerful enough to have made Simms play that badly. Although I can't speak for the effect it might have on driving...