Bill Simmons dares ESPN to punish him, gets suspended

Bill Simmons has been suspended by ESPN for three weeks for blasting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice situation in a recent podcast. Simmons used profane language to call Goodell a liar for his responses to questions about the NFL’s investigation of Rice during a press conference last week. You can listen to the clip that got Simmons in trouble below:

Simmons started his rant by saying, “Not enough is being made of the fact that they knew about the tape and they knew what it was on it. Goodell, if he doesn’t know what was on that tape, is a liar.”

Simmons ended his rant by daring ESPN to punish him:

“I really hope someone calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell. If one person says that to me, I’m going public. You leave me alone. The commissioner is a liar, and I get to talk about that on my podcast. Please, call me and say I’m in trouble, I dare you.”

The suspension given to Simmons by ESPN for criticizing Goodell is actually one week longer than the original suspension given to Rice for knocking out his girlfriend in an Atlantic City elevator. Simmons’ rant happened after ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” released a report on how the Ravens and NFL attempted to cover up the incident.

ESPN has issued a statement on Simmons’ suspension:

“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.”

The Ravens have since released Rice after the video of him striking his now-wife was circulated by TMZ.