Chester Robert Simmons was a television executive.
27 Facts About Chet Simmons
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Chet Simmons worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL.
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Chet Simmons joined NBC Sports in 1964, where he stayed for 15 years becoming the first President in 1977.
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Chet Simmons 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.
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Chet Simmons was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Chet Simmons's mother Rose "Kitty" Suffin was a first-generation American.
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Chet Simmons went to West High School in Pawtucket where he played baseball, football, and cards.
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Chet Simmons's love for sports began when he was a child listening to Brooklyn Dodgers games on the family car's radio.
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Chet Simmons went on to receive a Master of Science in television from Boston University.
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Chet Simmons served in the United States Coast Guard after completing his graduate studies.
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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.
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Harriet and Chet Simmons moved to Savannah in 1986, and settled on Tybee Island in 1992.
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Chet Simmons was an avid New York Yankees, Dodgers and Alabama Crimson Tide fan.
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Chet Simmons loved listening to Mel Allen and Vin Scully on the radio and Tony Kubek, Joe Gargiola, Jack Buck, Greg Gumble and Chris Schenkel.
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Chet Simmons loved watching SportsCenter, the NFL draft, the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Championships and all the talent he helped discover and develop.
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Chet Simmons loved the beach, to smoke cigars, a good laugh, pens, his dogs, Jazz, the Blues, spy novels, and all things London.
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Chet Simmons was a favorite of Elaine's Restaurant in NYC.
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Chet Simmons 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.
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In 1957, while working at the ad agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Chet Simmons accepted an invitation from Edgar Scherick to join Sports Programs Inc.
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In 1964, Chet Simmons moved over to NBC Sports first as Director of Programming and moving up in 1977 to become the first President of NBC Sports.
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Slightly more than five weeks prior to ESPN's official launch on September 7,1979, Chet Simmons joined as President bringing along fellow NBC Sports executive and long time friend Scotty Connal to head production and operations.
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Chet Simmons left ESPN to become Commissioner of the USFL in 1982.
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Chet Simmons forged a culture that is still ESPN's defining advantage in the marketplace, according to Bodenheimer.
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In June 1982, Chet Simmons was appointed the first Commissioner of the United States Football League a month after its formation.
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One of the USFL's first accomplishments under Chet Simmons watch was the signing of a two-year contract with ESPN.
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The league incurred heavy financial losses and Chet Simmons increasingly came under fire from some club owners for failing to negotiate a more lucrative network television deal.
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Chet Simmons was replacing by Harry Usher, an attorney who had served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.