ESPN commentator Bill Simmons was suspended by the sports network for three weeks on Wednesday after he called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a liar and then dared the network to punish him for it.
According to the Los Angeles Times, on his podcast – "The B.S. Report" – the longtime ESPN commentator charged that Goodell was not telling the truth about knowing what was on an elevator surveillance tape on which former Baltimore Raven running back Ray Rice was seen punching his wife.
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That tape, which Goodell has claimed he had not seen until TMZ revealed it this month, revolted much of the nation and led to Rice's indefinite suspension from the NFL, up from his original two-game suspension handed down by Goodell.
"Goodell, if he didn't know what was on that tape, he's a liar," Simmons said on the podcast. "I'm just saying it. He 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. ... It really is, it's such ... . For him to go into that press conference and pretend otherwise – I was so insulted."
Simmons then challenged ESPN about his remarks, the Times reported.
"I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I'm in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell," Simmons said in podcast. "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."
Simmons heard from his bosses at ESPN in less than a day,
according to TMZ Sports.
"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards," the networks said in a statement, per TMZ. "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."
Deadspin.com reported that ESPN previously hit Simmons with a two-week Twitter suspension for complaining about an ESPN radio partner and a three-day Twitter suspension for criticizing ESPN2's "First Take."
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