There is no word yet as to whether ESPN will allow Bill Simmons to complete his contract with the company, but Simmons was notified today (by Twitter, no less!!!) that he would not be renewed at ESPN, which Deadspin has taken (correctly!) as a material termination.
The decision was made by ESPN's President today. John Skipper decided "it was time to move on", and people in the know believe the final straw was when Simmons appeared on The Dan Patrick Show and basically took several more veiled shots at Roger Goodell about DeflateGate.
Facts are facts: Not only does ESPN not want it's talents farming out to other networks' shows without knowledge, but -- the network being the NFL's bitch -- they also didn't appreciate Simmons basically showing Goodell up (and telling the truth!) as to Goodell waiting to see which way the wind blew before deciding what to do about DeflateGate.
And, with that, Bill Simmons is really where ESPN should've put him after the "Roger Goodell is a liar." podcast. The only question now is whether, with the "team still in place" at Grantland (which I don't expect to last, because of the burgeoning relationship between ESPN and FiveThirtyEight), will the people who Simmons has kept employed still be there, or will they be out too?
And, of course, when Simmons finally does get a free hand, what will he say (about ESPN and The National Football League) when he's out?
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