Sometimes, it leaves it slightly open. And if Simmons ever considers returning to the NFL, he already seems to know which team he’d want to play for.
“If it was Denver, there’d be no doubt,” Simmons told Kay Adams during his recent appearance on the Up & Adams Show. “I’m living in Denver right now. I’m planning on staying in shape. So, I guess that the door is creaked open, just a tad. Only if it’s Denver, only if it’s Denver. If it’s any other team, it’d be hard to be able to go out there and do it.”
Newly retired Justin Simmons says he would make an NFL comeback for only ONE team:
“If it was Denver, there’d be no doubt… The door is creaked open just a tad, only if it’s Denver”
@jsimms1119 | @Broncos | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/Qzz2BcJeNR
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 7, 2026
Simmons was responding to a scenario Adams brought up. She asked him to imagine it’s January, the Broncos under head coach Sean Payton have made the playoffs, but the secondary is banged up, and Payton reaches out to see if Simmons would want to make one final playoff push during the 2026 season.
Without hesitation, the four-time All-Pro admitted that if Denver called, he’d answer. And it’s not difficult to understand why the recently retired safety would be open to a Broncos reunion. After Denver selected him with the final pick of the third round in the 2016 NFL Draft, Simmons went on to spend eight seasons with the franchise.
A decade after the Broncos drafted him, Simmons officially said goodbye to the league, the franchise, and Broncos Country.
“My time here in Denver literally shaped me into the man that I am,” Simmons said. “To the best fans in the world and Broncos Country, thank you so much for all your support for both myself and my family. If I go back in time and talk to the young Justin Simmons, I would tell him as confidently as I could look him in the eye and say, ‘You got this.’”
During his eight-year run with the Broncos, Simmons was nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award by the team in three straight seasons and also won the franchise’s Darrent Williams Good Guy Award three different times for his professionalism and relationship with the media. Both remain team records.
Still, there will always be one lingering caveat around Simmons’ Broncos tenure. He entered the league just after Denver won Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 season and left in 2024, only months before the franchise finally snapped its nine-year playoff drought.
So it’s easy to understand why, if an opportunity to return for a playoff run with Denver ever appears, Simmons would seriously consider it. Whether that moment ever arrives is anyone’s guess. And while we now know which team he’d return for, we’re also well aware of the team Simmons would never want to play for, even if the opportunity somehow came up.
Justin Simmons addresses his hatred toward his former division rival
The Broncos dominated during the 2025 season, securing the top seed in the AFC and making an appearance in the AFC Championship Game. But for most of Justin Simmons’ tenure in Denver, it was the Kansas City Chiefs controlling the AFC West. And that’s exactly why, even in retirement, Simmons still hasn’t hidden how much he dislikes the Chiefs.
“I do not like them, I don’t like any part of most of their team,” Simmons said on the DNVR Sports Podcast. “I got a lot of respect for a lot of the great players, but when we were losing to them, they made sure we knew that we were losing to them. And I didn’t like that, so I have full hatred for them. Wasn’t going to go to the team (as a free agent).
“I think the Hunt family is, like, top class. At least outside looking in, I think they are. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Andy Reid and a lot of, like I said, a lot of respect for different people But the Kansas City Chiefs, not the fans, not necessarily the ownership or anything, just the fact that we’re the Broncos and they’re the Chiefs. I don’t like y’all, and y’all don’t have to like me. That’s fine.”
Simmons spent his Broncos career from 2016 through 2023. During that stretch, the Chiefs largely dominated the rivalry, posting a lopsided 15-1 record against Denver. Ironically, Simmons’ lone win over Kansas City came in his final game against the Chiefs before later joining the Falcons.
Still, despite Kansas City’s dominance during that period, Simmons definitely had his moments against Patrick Mahomes. The veteran safety intercepted Mahomes six times during his career, more than any other defender has managed against the Chiefs quarterback. So while the Broncos-Chiefs rivalry during Simmons’ time in Denver was already intense enough, it’s pretty clear that his dislike for Kansas City isn’t fading anytime soon.
