Getty Images

ESPN pontificator Bill Simmons called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a liar, and dared his bosses to call him on it.

So they did.

ESPN put out a statement saying Simmons was suspended three weeks for his profane tirade against Goodell.

“Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN’s journalistic standards,” the statement read. “We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria. Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks.”

There’s no word as to whether that suspension is paid or unpaid — such that it matters, since any millions given to Simmons pales to the billions (as in 15.2) they give the NFL.

But it’s increasingly obvious that the four-letter network is willing to listen to criticism, after some holes were poked in their investigation of the Ray Rice suspension.

Considering Stephen A. Smith only got a week off for suggesting that domestic violence victims shouldn’t provoke men, it’s obvious where their priorities lie.