ESPN Drama: Simmons Suspended for Goodell Rant

September 25, 2014
|In NFL
|By Paul Marin
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Words Have Consequences.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons is the latest victim in the Ray Rice/NFL domestic violence saga. It’s weird because Simmons wasn’t even in Atlantic City. If you haven’t heard of the incident, Ravens’ RB Rice assaulted his girlfriend in an elevator of a casino. The NFL and the Ravens responded ineptly to video footage of the incident going public. So what did Simmons do? The sports journalist and commentator went off on Commissioner Roger Goodell during his “BS Report” podcast on Monday.

via GIPHY

Simmons said:

I’m just saying it. He [Goodell] is lying. I think [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 fucking bullshit. It really is — it’s such fucking bullshit. And for him to go in that press conference and pretend otherwise, I was so insulted. I really was.

Shots Fired

We 100% agree with Simmons, but he knew he was screwing himself. The NFL generates millions of dollars for ESPN. However, Simmons proved once again his values are more important than his paycheck. It’s sad the NFL is more concerned with protecting its shield and profits than doing what’s right.

Simmons is the second ESPN to be suspended for remarks about Ray Rice, Janay Palmer, and the NFL. Stephen A. Smith, the bombastic sports pundit, was suspended for a week for his remarks about the initial two-game suspension of Rice.

Smith said on ESPN’s First Take:

What I’ve tried to employ the female members of my family — some of who you all met and talked to and what have you — is that … let’s make sure we don’t do anything to provoke wrong actions, because if I come — or somebody else come, whether it’s law enforcement officials, your brother or the fellas that you know — if we come after somebody has put their hands on you, it doesn’t negate the fact that they already put their hands on you.

FTS is not naive. We know corporate interests take precedent when billions of dollars are on the table. Ultimately, sports is a people business. There is right and wrong behavior. Domestic violence is plain wrong. There should be no consequences to calling it out. Simmons thankfully has colleagues in his corner. Michelle Beadle, the talented and stunning host of SportsNation, defended Simmons on Twitter:

michellebeadlethr
The Hollywood Reporter

The segment quotes are courtesy of Deadspin.com and Mediate.

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