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Chris Simms: Boosters provided "a few $100 handshakes" at Texas

So much for the code.

Handout/Getty Images

Occasionally outspoken former Texas Longhorns quarterback Chris Simms made headlines on Thursday when he admitted to receiving improper benefits when he was a player.

In an appearance as the co-host of a CBSSports radio show, Simms dropped the following:

"They didn't pay me, but there may have been cash going around to some other players," said Simms. "I'm not going to deny that. I may have gotten a few $100 handshakes every now and then to sign some autographs for alumni.

"I don't care how rich your upbringing was. Yes, I grew up with a silver spoon, but if you give me a few extra $100 as a college kid, that's great."

Anyone who follows college football closely or read SB Nation's "Meet the Bag Man" piece from last spring knows that these types of improprieties are commonplace around college football. So whatever moralizing may come from Simms' hardly-shocking revelation would constitute a massive pile of garbage.

And since the university has little to no control over booster interactions with players in situations like these, the comments won't spark a NCAA investigation that could eventually result in sanctions.

However, there is an unspoken code among former players that keeps them from discussing the seedy underbelly of college football except in rare ocassions, especially in regards to payments made by boosters -- Simms is stepping over an invisible line here and it's not clear what he's hoping to accomplish in doing so.

Is he just an attention-hungry former athlete not content to fade into obscurity and out to build his brand as a commentator with some mildy spicy details of his playing career? Whatever the case, he should probably just keep this stuff to himself like virtually everyone else in his position.