Simmons' radio career began in
Elko, Nevada, calling Elko High School football and basketball games on KELK. He first announced baseball for a semipro league in
Marysville, California. After spending three years broadcasting
Fresno State sports on KMJ, Simmons came to
San Francisco in
1957 as the sports director at KSFO. That year, he was the color commentator for the
San Francisco 49ers of the
National Football League, teaming with play-by-play announcer
Bob Fouts, the father of
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback
Dan Fouts. In 1958, Simmons took over as play-by-play announcer on 49ers radio broadcasts, paired with former 49er
Gordy Soltau. Years later, he worked with KSFO disc-jockey Gene Nelson and then with former NFL player and
KPIX-TV sports director
Wayne Walker. Also in 1958, Simmons became the second announcer for the newly relocated
San Francisco Giants of
Major League Baseball, teaming with lead announcer
Russ Hodges, who moved with the team from New York. To complement Hodges' "Bye Bye Baby!" home run call, Simmons created his own, "Tell It Goodbye!" When Hodges retired after the 1970 season (he died in April 1971), Simmons was promoted to lead announcer and teamed with Bill Thompson. This pairing lasted through the 1973 season.
Al Michaels and Art Eckman became the Giants' radio announcers on KSFO in 1974.
Famed "wrong-way" football call Simmons' most famous call during his first stint with the 49ers came on October 25, 1964, when
Minnesota Vikings defensive end
Jim Marshall picked up a fumble by the 49ers'
Billy Kilmer and ran it the wrong way, scoring a safety for the 49ers instead of a touchdown for the Vikings (who won, 27–22). The transcript of his call, including his mid-sentence transition as the moment occurred, reads as:
Later career Simmons returned to the Giants in
1976 as second announcer behind Michaels, then was the lead announcer again in 1977 and 1978, teaming with San Francisco native
Joe Angel. When KSFO lost the Giants radio rights to rival
KNBR in 1979, Simmons and Angel were replaced by
Lindsey Nelson and
Hank Greenwald. Three years later in 1981, KSFO acquired the
Oakland Athletics' radio rights. Simmons then became an A's announcer, along with longtime
Oakland Raiders and
San Francisco/Golden State Warriors voice
Bill King and youngster
Wayne Hagin. Simmons remained part of the A's radio team through the 1995 season. From
1996 to
2002, he called Giants games part-time on KNBR. With the 49ers, he remained as play-by-play announcer through the 1980 season. In 1981, KSFO lost the 49ers radio rights to KCBS, who replaced him with its own sports director, longtime
Stanford University play-by-play announcer Don Klein. Simmons also served as the Warriors TV announcer on
KTVU during the
1973–74 NBA season. During the final two games of the
1989 World Series, Athletics lead announcer Bill King came down with laryngitis. Simmons was thus able to announce to his radio audience that the A's had won the World Series over Simmons' former team, the Giants. During Simmons' first tenure as 49ers play-by-play announcer, the team never won an NFL championship. One year after his departure, San Francisco began a run of
Super Bowl victories. When KGO acquired the 49ers radio rights in 1987, Simmons returned as the play-by-play announcer and was reunited with long-time colleague,
Wayne Walker. The following January, San Francisco won
Super Bowl XXIII over the
Cincinnati Bengals, 20–16. Simmons' call of the 49ers' Super Bowl game-winning drive (punctuated by a Joe Montana-to-John Taylor TD pass) can be heard on the
NFL Films highlights package of the game. Simmons again departed from the 49ers — this time for good — during the 1989 preseason following a dispute with the KGO management. He was replaced in the play-by-play spot by
Joe Starkey, the long-time announcer for the
University of California Golden Bears and sideline reporter on 49ers games in 1987 and 1988; Starkey had taken over play-by-play on several October games during the 1988 season. Starkey retired from the position following the
2008 NFL season.
Coast Guard service Simmons served in the U.S. Coast Guard for years during
World War II. He initially served on a
cutter in Hawaii mostly conducting submarine patrols. During the
Battle of Saipan, he served on a
landing ship, tank (LST-205) that landed troops and supplies as part of the invasion. Afterwards, he served in the
Aleutian Islands until the end of the war. ==Death==