Bill Simmons to leave ESPN

[Urethra Franklin]

ESPN president John Skipper confirmed to the New York Times this morning that they were too far apart on terms on Bill Simmons will be leaving the network.

No word on what this means for Grantland.

I'm not a be fan at all, but this is a big loss for ESPN.

[Deleted]

Honestly, Bill Simmons had been trying to do everything he could to get out of his contract this past year. He's made it clear through many of his tweets that he doesn't like ESPN much.

[Cyno]

Deflategate was too much for the poor guy. NO ONE DENIES THIS!

Though in all seriousness, I enjoy Bill Simmons' work when he isn't being a blatant Boston homer. I'll miss him and wish him success wherever he goes.

[Dean-o]

I generally enjoy Bill Simmons, and for the most part hate ESPN so hopefully he'll land someplace better.

[Deleted]

May 8, 2015 10:18:48 GMT -5 Cyno said:

I enjoy Bill Simmons' work when he isn't being a blatant Boston homer. I'll miss him and wish him success wherever he goes.

Basically my exact opinion on him

[rocket]

I think at this point ESPN is too big to suffer the loss of someone like Simmons.

I hope whoever grabs him thrives and not, say, be like TNA with (insert acquisition here).

[Ben Wyatt]

May 8, 2015 9:56:01 GMT -5 @beau99 said:

Honestly, Bill Simmons had been trying to do everything he could to get out of his contract this past year. He's made it clear through many of his tweets that he doesn't like ESPN much.

Makes sense given the combination of ESPN trying to neuter him and the network losing credibility by the day.

May 8, 2015 10:18:48 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Though in all seriousness, I enjoy Bill Simmons' work when he isn't being a blatant Boston homer.

In his defense, he's at least aknowleges being a homer. He was a fan first, and I can respect him being for transparent.

[kingoftheindies]

May 8, 2015 10:20:42 GMT -5 Dean-o said:

I generally enjoy Bill Simmons, and for the most part hate ESPN so hopefully he'll land someplace better.

Honestly he should. Bill was a huge draw for them but as he started going against what they like their tv people to say it got harder to control him. Expect him to get a sweet offer from CBS sports or Fox

[Neo: "The One" who CLAPS]

I'm a big Simmons fan, even though his homer tendencies annoy me. But if you've read his stuff in the past year, you know that Bill doesn't want any part of ESPN. He will get a big offer from somebody else.

[Lupin the Third]

So now the main group they have left is Colin Cowherd, Skip Bayless, and Stephen A. Smith.

God, ESPN sucks.

[Brandon Walsh is Insane.]

If be surprised if he doesn't already have an offer set up.

[Toxik916]

I hope he goes to Fox Sports. He and Katie Nolan could be a great duo for them.

[bob]

and with this the last person with any real credibility in ESPN has left

[Ben Wyatt]

May 8, 2015 13:12:24 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

So now the main group they have left is Colin Cowherd, Skip Bayless, and Stephen A. Smith.

God, ESPN sucks.

That's.....that's really putrid

[andrew8798]

ESPNers: Bill Simmons Found Out He Was Fired On Twitter - Deadspin

Ding Dong the witch is dead.” (That’s how one ESPN staffer describes the vibe in Bristol.)

Sounds just like with KO was let go in 97

[Urfarkendarf]

ESPN is absolutely awful.

I expect Simmons will land at NBC or Fox.

Im not a huge fan of his, but I'm an ardent supporter of guys speaking their minds. It will be interesting to see if TNT picks him up for NBA stuff.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Maybe a job with creative at WWE

[Jeff Mangum PI]

I'd be very surprised if he didn't land on Fox Sports 1. Dude's a tremendous writer and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. I'd much rather read the writing of a homer than someone shilling for LeBron/Tebow/Manziel like everyone else on ESPN.

[Reflecto]

May 8, 2015 15:34:02 GMT -5 Brood Lone Wolf Funker said:

Maybe a job with creative at WWE

Why just creative? He was good on commentary when he did it before Wrestlemania, he could give a lot of content for the Network and the website if they went that route- going for him as an announcer would be a coup for WWE in that route.

[Cyno]

May 8, 2015 11:54:29 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

May 8, 2015 10:18:48 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Though in all seriousness, I enjoy Bill Simmons' work when he isn't being a blatant Boston homer.

In his defense, he's at least aknowleges being a homer. He was a fan first, and I can respect him being for transparent.

Oh, definitely. Still annoyed me when he went into Boston homer mode (as a bunch of my teams are rivals/archrivals with his teams, that is to be expected), but he was real upfront about it. But other than those times I like him a lot. He's witty, funny, and makes a lot of pro wrestling references.