Earlier this year, ESPNdecided to cut their ties to Bill Simmons by not renewing his contract. He responded by taking some time off and then announcing that he would be taking his talents to HBO. And while it's still a little unclear what he’s going to be doing for the cable network, Simmons has launched The Bill Simmons Podcast to get back into the podcast game.
Very early this morning, Simmons released not one but two episodes of his new podcast. The first features him jumping right back into the deep end by running through NFL Week 4 lines with Cousin Sal, while the second features him talking about Deflategate, Donald Trump, and more with John “JackO” O’Connell. Not surprisingly, both feature Simmons taking several jabs at ESPN and some of his former colleagues.
In the first episode of the podcast, Simmons begins by addressing his new situation with HBO, while taking a thinly-veiled shot at ESPN as a whole.
“HBO is going to be my new employer,” he says. “I’m very excited to work with them. They’ve been great. A place that cares about creative freedom and freedom of speech. I’m very excited about that.”
He also says he’s “excited to poke fun at some of the ESPN on-air talent" while simultaneously poking fun at Chris Berman.
In the second episode of the podcast, Simmons calls ESPN out for not covering Deflategate properly.
“Granted, I’m a little biased here,” he says. “The way everyone else covered Roger Goodell in this whole story versus the way ESPN covered it, it was embarrassing. I couldn’t believe nobody called out ESPN about it.”
Simmons also continues to "poke fun" by asking JackO if there are any ESPN personalities that he’s been waiting to roast. JackO mentions Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic from ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning before Simmons—who had a very public spat with Golic last year—chimes in with an impression of Greenberg as well as some snarky commentary on the recent interview Greenberg and Golic did with Roger Goodell.
Simmons doesn’t go in on anyone too hard, but it’s pretty clear that he’s not going to shy away from criticizing ESPN personalities on his podcast moving forward.
“I do not work for them anymore,” he says, “and I like poking fun at media people from time to time. We’re going to be able to do that.”
You can listen to episode 1 of The Bill Simmons Podcast here:
Episode 2 of The Bill Simmons Podcast is here:
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