Abdul Carter’s Giants number request led to Phil Simms family drama

Phil Simms, the legendary New York Giants quarterback, and his family have been wrestling with the notion of letting the team’s first-round pick, Abdul Carter, wear his retired No. 11 jersey. 

While Simms himself said he would be open to letting Carter wear the same number he wore at Penn State, the women in his family ultimately shut it down. 

Chris Simms, Phil’s son and current NBC NFL analyst, broke down the debate inside his family circle on “PFT Live with Mike Florio” on Monday, when he said “shedding tears” actually came for his sister, Deidre, and mother, Diana. 

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Former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms during a ceremony to unveil a mural celebrating the New York Giants 100th season at Hackensack University Medical Center. (IMAGN)

After Simms made his comments about being open to letting No. 11 go to Carter, Chris had a phone call with his father, asking if he was going to make it happen for real. 

However, Deidre called and could not believe Chris was on his father’s side. 

“’I thought you were going to be on my side, how dare you. Forget it, I don’t want to talk to you and we’re hanging up,’” Chris said Deidre told him over the phone. 

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“That’s when I knew, ‘Uh oh, mom and sister have gotten involved here.’ And mom and sister have one more vote than me and brother (Matt), and I don’t know where my brother stands on this.”

Chris said that his father asked him if he could sway his mom and sister to his side. However, Chris was right – the Simms women’s votes held more power in the end. 

“I knew they threw a fit,” Chris said. “I think it’s going to the point where literally there was like, they were shedding tears. I’m not trying to embarrass my mom or my sister, but that’s how important it was to them. And on top of that, the blowback off of that and the amount of people that came to my dad, ‘Don’t give your number up, don’t do that,’ I think he was a little taken aback by that. 

New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, left, and New York Giants rookie Abdul Carter. (IMAGN)

“Ultimately, he’s not going to do it, he got outvoted by his family, specifically his daughter and his wife, but that’s where it stands right now.”

Carter, who went third overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, has sparked some controversy revolving around the jersey number he wants to wear. Lawrence Taylor, the Hall of Fame linebacker whose retired No. 56 was brought up by Carter, told the rookie to make his own number famous. 

That was when Carter pivoted to No. 11, which Phil openly said he would consider giving to him. Now, however, Carter will have to find his own number like every other player. 

It seems trivial to believe a rookie could take a retired number, but it has happened recently in the NFL, including with the Giants this past season. Malik Nabers got permission from the family of Ray Flaherty to wear No. 1, and he did well in it last year. 

NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms on the field prior to a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)

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Also, in this year’s draft class, Warren Moon gave Cam Ward, the number one overall pick, the right to wear his retired No. 1 with the Tennessee Titans. Of course, Moon has the right to give away his number if so. 

While jersey numbers usually do not carry weight for rookies, the NFL world is now fixated on what Carter will do now that both of his requests have been denied. 

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