After ESPN’s Bill Simmons seemingly dared his employer to punish him after blasting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on his podcast Monday, ESPN has suspended Bill Simmons for three weeks. Simmons called Goodell a liar in a profane tirade on the B.S. Report, and in a statement, ESPN said that Simmons failed to meet the company’s journalistic standards.

Via ESPN:

“Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN’s journalistic standards. 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.”

Simmons — who has previously been suspended from Twitter by ESPN — said he would go “public” if someone punished him for his comments on the Goodell.

“I really hope somebody calls me or emails me and says I’m in trouble for anything I say about Roger Goodell, 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. Thank you.”

Following ESPN’s suspension, #FreeSimmons quickly became the top trend in the United States on Twitter, with thousands of people tweeting their support for the writer.

I can't believe @espn will suspend someone for speaking THE TRUTH about NFL #domesticviolence I support @BillSimmons #freesimmons — Letti (@Letti4U) September 24, 2014

Here’s a Coors Light Cold Hard fact for you, @espn. Goodell is a liar. #freesimmons — Michael O'Brien (@mycobrian) September 24, 2014

At a time when men are shying away from discourse regarding domestic violence, @BillSimmons' statements are bold and needed. #freesimmons — Kelly Q. Anderson (@KellyQAnderson) September 24, 2014

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