Late yesterday ESPN announced that it was suspending Bill Simmons for three weeks from all activities including his editorial duties, Twitter, his podcast and as producer of the "30 for 30" series.
ESPN stated "Every employess 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 N.F.L. coverage has met that criteria." Simmons, they stated "did not meet those obligations."
On his Grantland podcast Simmons passionately stated "Goddell, if he didn't know what was on that tape, 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." He went on to say "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."
On Monday, Simmons challenged ESPN, his employer, to take action, basically daring them to lay down the law, and on Wednesday, they did just that.
For more on this story and Simmons' past brush with discipline, read here
