ESPN suspends Bill Simmons for comments about NFL's Goodell

ESPN has suspended Bill Simmons for three weeks after he repeatedly called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a liar during a profane tirade on a podcast.

ESPN announced the suspension Wednesday.

"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards," ESPN said in a statement. "Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks."

Simmons' podcast was released Tuesday. He said he thought Goodell lied about not knowing what was on a security video that showed former Ravens running back Ray Rice hitting his wife in an elevator.

According to Business Insider, Simmons dared ESPN to punish him for his comments.

"I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I'm in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell," Simmons said. "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 is the editor of the sports web site "Grantland," which is owned by ESPN. He also appears on ESPN's NBA studio shows.

Earlier this month, Goodell told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell that he had not seen the video showing Rice punching his fiancée before it was released by TMZ.

Last week, Goodell acknowledged the NFL has dropped the ball on the issue of domestic violence and apologized for mishandling the Rice case.