ESPN Suspends Bill Simmons For Criticism Of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Simmons

ESPN has suspended GRANTLAND founder and "THE BS REPORT" podcast host BILL SIMMONS for three weeks for his criticism of NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL, reports DEADSPIN.

On his podcast MONDAY (9/22), SIMMONS said that if GOODELL claims that he did not know what was on the video of RAY RICE punching his then-fiancee in a casino elevator, "he's a liar.  I'm just saying it. He is lying. I think that dude is lying. If you put him up on a lie detector test that guy would fail. For all these people to pretend they didn't know is such f-cking bullsh-t. It really is — it's such f-cking bullsh-t. And for him to go in that press conference and pretend otherwise, I was so insulted. I really was." He also told ESPN that if anyone from the network told him he would be in trouble for criticizing GOODELL, "I'm going public.  You leave me alone.  The commissioner's a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast."

The network, which previously suspended SIMMONS from Twitter for two weeks for criticizing hosts at ESPN affiliate ENTERCOM Sports WEEI-F/BOSTON and two days for comments on the TV network's "FIRST TAKE," issued a statement saying, "Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards. We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. BILL SIMMONS did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks."

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