Justin Simmons: ‘I was just trying to be the best version of myself’

Justin Simmons had the misfortune of walking into the Denver Broncos locker room when the confetti from Super Bowl 50 was still being cleaned up — and of leaving it for the last time months before the team began its first postseason-worthy campaign since that world championship. His entire eight years with the club coincided with its playoff drought.

You have to go all the way back to the Broncos’ earliest days to find a player who wore the orange and blue so long without taking part in a postseason game.

But if Justin Simmons has any regrets as his career officially closes after nine seasons — eight with the Broncos — he didn’t let them show Wednesday when he officially announced his retirement.

“I do feel extremely proud and happy,” he said Wednesday as he officially concluded his career, signing a one-day contract so he could retire with the team for which he played for eight seasons.

“From a fan perspective, I did my best with what we were going through, and it was a lot,” Simmons said. “There was a lot of head coach turnover.

“It’s weird too, because there was an ownership thing that was happening and you have to focus on football and winning games. It was hard. I hope that the legacy that was left is that [I was a] guy that really did care and passionately cared. I wanted to win, and it didn’t work out. I’m so glad that they are winning now, and it’s awesome.”

Justin Simmons played for six different head coaches. He saw the ownership transition from the Pat Bowlen Trust to the Walton-Penner Group. But most of all, his era will be remembered for the quarterback carousel, as 13 different starters took their turn under center during his eight seasons — the last of whom took the reins for his final two games with the Broncos (Jarrett Stidham).

But through all the instability, Simmons’ proficiency and professionalism never waned.

“I was just trying to be the best version of myself. Maybe it played out that way,” Simmons said. “There was so much that goes into that, but I was trying my best to just be that.”

By any reasonable measure, he succeeded.

WHY JUSTIN SIMMONS DIDN’T PLAY LAST YEAR

After a 2024 campaign with the Atlanta Falcons that included an emotional return to Denver for a game that November, Justin Simmons hoped to play in 2025.

But during that season in Atlanta, he missed being away from his family, which remained in Denver.

“It was hard seeing Taryn (his wife) struggle with them out here. Not on her own, but without Dad. It’s hard,” Justin Simmons said. “And, yeah, I missed my wife, I missed my kids. I missed what was so familiar for eight years. 

“It’s things that I took for granted that you never know until it’s gone.”

He didn’t play in 2025. No opportunity was tempting enough to pull him away from the call of home. And now, what Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll called his “life’s work” beckons.

Simmons will attack that next phase of life with purpose and without regret.

We'll always remember the "D.T. Game" too, @jsimms1119. 🫶 pic.twitter.com/rVnoCyRujQ

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 29, 2026

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