Chet Simmons

Chester Robert Simmons (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive.

He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL.

Born in New York City on July 11, 1928, Simmons was raised in Ossining, New York, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

His father Leonard Simmons, a Polish immigrant, manufactured women's house dresses.

His mother Rose "Kitty" Suffin was a first-generation American.

Chet went to West High School in Pawtucket where he played baseball, football, and cards.

His love for sports began when he was a child listening to Brooklyn Dodgers games on the family car's radio.

After high school, he first attended George Washington University but later transferred to the University of Alabama where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in broadcasting in 1950.

He went on to receive a Master of Science in television from Boston University.

While in college, Simmons became a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi.

He served in the United States Coast Guard after completing his graduate studies.

While in the Coast Guard, he was stationed in Cape May and was the sports editor of the Coast Guard's Newspaper.

Following his Coast Guard assignment, he started his media career in NYC at advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample.

Simmons and his wife Harriet met in NYC where she was working as a medical technologist.

Harriet was born and raised in Lynn, Massachusetts, with roots in Savannah, Georgia.

Their first date included the Elbow Room at the Beekman Towers, and her finishing his meal.

They were married in Brentwood, New York, at Simmons' uncle's farm in 1956.

Harriet and Chet started their life together in Queens, New York, while Simmons was working in Manhattan in the ad agency business and then later at Sports Programs Inc. founded by Edgar Sherick and later merged into create ABC Sports.

From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in sports programming and was a key part of the development of Wide World of Sports.

In 1957, while working at the ad agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Simmons accepted an invitation from Edgar Scherick to join Sports Programs Inc., which would evolve into ABC Sports four years later.

Along with Sherick and Roone Arledge, Simmons help pioneer ABC Sports to become the leader in Sports Television in the United States with the creation of Wide World of Sports and full coverage of the Olympics.

While living in Jericho, Long Island, their first child Pam was born in 1959 (the same year the Dodgers beat the White Sox to win the World Series) and then Jed in 1960 (the same year the US won Olympic Gold in Men's Ice Hockey in Squaw Valley).

He joined NBC Sports in 1964, where he stayed for 15 years becoming the first President in 1977.

At NBC, he pioneered instant replay and coverage of the Olympics and NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.

With his growing life in sports, the family moved to Manhattan, where Pete was born in 1969 (the same year the Jets won Super Bowl III and the Mets won the World Series, both broadcast live on NBC Sports).

While still with NBC, Chet and Harriet settled in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1971 and had Nicole (Nikki) in 1972 (the year NBC Sports televised the XI Olympic Games in Sapparo, Japan).

In 1979, he left NBC to join the soon to launch ESPN becoming its second President.

At ESPN, he oversaw the launch of the network, the development of SportsCenter, the first broadcasts of the NFL Draft, coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and the development of Chris Berman, Bob Ley, George Grande, Greg Gumbel and Dick Vitale.

In 1979, the family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, as the opportunity of ESPN unfolded in Bristol.

In 1982, he became the first Commissioner of the United States Football League and led it through three championships and players including Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Reggie White, Steve Young and Anthony Carter.

The USFL called for a return to NYC and life in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1982.

Harriet and Chet moved to Savannah in 1986, and settled on Tybee Island in 1992.

Simmons was an avid New York Yankees, Dodgers (starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field) and Alabama Crimson Tide fan.

He loved listening to Mel Allen and Vin Scully on the radio and Tony Kubek, Joe Gargiola, Jack Buck, Greg Gumble and Chris Schenkel.

He loved watching SportsCenter, the NFL draft, the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Championships and all the talent he helped discover and develop.

He loved the beach, to smoke cigars, a good laugh, pens, his dogs, Jazz, the Blues, spy novels, and all things London.

He was a favorite of Elaine's Restaurant in NYC.

He was especially close to his four children and their spouses, Pam and Randy, Jed and Jana, Pete and Gaby, and Nikki and Micah, and nine grandchildren, Zach, Ella, Claudia, Streeter, Ben, Zander, Jack, Reid, and Tyler.

He is the 2005 recipient of the Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and a member of the University of Alabama College of Communications and Information Sciences Hall of Fame.

He was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010.