Following an anti-Roger Goodell rant on his latest NFL Podcast, ESPN has suspended Bill Simmons. He challenged ESPN to take action on his Roger Goodell remarks:
I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell. Because if one person says that to me, I’m going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner’s a liar and I get to talk about that on my podcast … Please, call me and say I’m in trouble. I dare you.
ESPN addressed the suspension with this statement:
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.
This is Simmons’ third suspension by ESPN. The other two were for criticizing an ESPN2 show and an ESPN radio show, respectively.