TYBEE ISLAND, GEORGIA - Chester "Chet" Robert Simmons, 81, who served as the first president of ESPN, of Tybee Island, Georgia, husband of Harriet Krobalski Simmons, died Thursday evening, March 25, 2010, at William Breman Jewish Home in Atlanta, Georgia.

Simmons left an indelible mark on both the early days of broadcast sports television and the formative years of sports on cable. During his career, he was a key contributor to the development of every major sport on tv. In 2005, Simmons received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 26th Sports Emmy Awards. In 2006, he was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame. Simmons influenced or launched the commentating careers of Jim Simpson, Merlin Olsen, Greg and Bryant Gumbel, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek, Joe Garagiola, Sandy Koufax, Vin Scully, Donna de Varona, Bucky Waters, George Grande, Chris Berman, Bob Ley, Tom Mees, Dick Vitale, Cliff Drysdale, Sharon Smith,Tim Ryan, and Jack Buck.

As a founding father of sports television, Simmons started in 1957 with Sports Programs, which evolved into ABC Sports.   While at ABC from 1957 to 1964 as vice president and general manager of sports programs, he was key part of the development of Wide World of Sports and bringing the Olympics to television.  Simmons worked at NBC for 15 years, culminating as the first president of Sports in 1977. At NBC, he was involved in the creation of “instant replay” and securing major sports properties, including the American Football League, National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, NCAA basketball, the Rose and Orange Bowls, Wimbledon and the Olympics.

Simmons joined ESPN as president on July 31, 1979, just prior to the network’s launch September 7.  Along with close friend and fellow NBC Sports alum Scotty Connal, who ran production and operations, he led ESPN through its infancy. Among Chet’s most notable achievements were the birth and direction of SportsCenter, which three decades later continues to define the sports tv news genre; television’s first comprehensive coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament; and the NFL Draft telecast (both in 1980).

In 1982, Simmons joined the USFL as the league’s founding Commissioner, serving until January 1985. Simmons played a key role in bringing stars to the USFL including Herschel Walker, Steve Young and Jim Kelly.  In subsequent years Simmons served as a consultant to Madison Square Garden and the Marquee Group; as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina; and as a member of the Savannah Sports Council and Film Commission.

Simmons was born on July 11, 1928, in New York City, and was raised in Ossining, N.Y. and Pawtucket, RI. His father Leonard, a Polish immigrant, manufactured women’s housedresses.  His mother Rose “Kitty” was a first- generation American. Chet went to West High School in Pawtucket where he played baseball, football, and cards.  In 1950, he earned a BA in broadcasting from the University of Alabama, and then did graduate work in communications at Boston University. He served in the Coast Guard in Cape May, NJ after leaving B.U., where he managed the Coast Guard baseball team (something few baseball’s fans can claim). 

Simmons and his wife Harriet met in NYC where she was working as a medical technologist.   Their first date included the Elbow Room at the Beekman Towers, and her finishing his meal. They were married in 1956.  Harriet and Chet started their life together in Queens, NY. Their first two children Pam and Jed were born in 1959 and 1960 respectively. With his growing life in sports, they moved to Manhattan, where Pete was born in 1969.  While still with NBC, Chet and Harriet settled in Old Greenwich, CT in 1971 and had Nikki in 1972.   In 1979, the family moved to West Hartford, CT as the opportunity of ESPN unfolded in Bristol.  The USFL called for a return to NYC and life in Greenwich, CT in 1982. Harriet and Chet moved to Savannah (home of Harriet’s family) in 1986, and settled on Tybee Island in 1992.

Chet Simmons loved sports, especially the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Dodgers, starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, the Yankees, listening to Mel Allen and Vin Sculley on the radio, listening to his friends on air and SportsCenter.  He also loved the beach, a good laugh, pens, their dogs, cigars and vodka, Jazz, Blues and the Big Bands, spy novels, his Kindle, all things London, a night at Elaine’s Restaurant, talking to everyone as he never met a stranger, and any day with his friends and family, especially his grandkids.

Chet is survived by his wife Harriet of 53 years; his four children Pam, Jed, Pete and Nikki; his daughter-in-law Jana Simmons; his sons-in-law Randy Miller and Micah Goldstein; and nine grandchildren Ella, Zach, Claudia, Streeter, Ben, Zander, Jack, Reid, and Tyler.
The funeral service will be held at 12 o'clock Sunday afternoon, March 28, 2010 at the graveside, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, conducted by Rabbi Kenneth R. Leitner.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Chester R. Simmons Scholarship Fund, The University of Alabama, P. O. Box  870172, Tuscaloosa, AL  35487 or to the The William Breman Jewish Home, 3150 Howell Mill Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30327-2108 and the Weinstein Hospice, 3150 Howell Mill Road Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30327-2108.