ESPN has announced that sports commentator Bill Simmons has been temporarily suspended from his position in the company following his rant against the Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell earlier in the week.
According to the company, Simmons, who is the Editor-in-Chief of Grantland - where his podcast was posted - failed to meet the 'journalistic standards' of the company. His suspension will last for three weeks.
On Monday, Simmons was discussing the scandal involving Raven's Ray Rice assault of his wife in an elevator earlier in the year when he accused the NFL boss of lying that he was oblivious about the incident until it appeared on the media.
"I just think not enough is being made out of the fact that they knew about the tape and they knew what was on it. Goodell, if he didn't know what was on that tape, he's a liar. I'm just saying it. He's lying," Simmons argued.
During the barrage on the commissioner, which lasted more than two minutes, Simmons also went on to dare ESPN to take disciplinary action against him.
"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," he said.
This is not the first time the passionate 'Sports Guy' has clashed with ESPN. In March last year, he was suspended from using Twitter by the company for about four days after he attacked Skip Bayless' First Take, describing it as "awful and embarrassing to everyone involved."
A few minutes earlier, he had told viewers who were commenting about a heated conversation between the Seahawks' Richard Sherman and Bayless to tune away from the program.
"Who cares? Just don't watch it," he said, "There are like 800 TV channels."
