After his split with ESPN last year, The Sports Guy is back with a new website called The Ringer and an upcoming sports/pop culture/tech show on HBO called “Any Given Wednesday,” which premieres June 22.
During his nearly 15-year career at ESPN, Simmons went from an unknown ex-bartender to the most popular sports writer in the country. He founded the critically acclaimed Grantland before it was shut down by ESPN. He was one of the godfathers of ESPN’s successful “30 for 30” documentary series.
But Simmons’s criticism of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell started a cold war between him and ESPN president John Skipper, who previously championed and protected him. With the two sides at an impasse on contract talks, Simmons learned of his firing via a New York Times story by Richard Sandomir.
MORE: How Simmons, others have fared since leaving ESPN
Despite his success since leaving ESPN, Simmons seems like he’s still seething over the treatment dished out to him by his former employer.
Here are five things we learned from the profile about the 46-year-old Simmons as he builds his new multimedia empire in sunny Los Angeles.
He still hates ESPN.
During his interview with THR, Simmons recalled his humiliation at learning through social media he was fired. He also threw some shade at Chris Berman, whose name was linked to a sexual harassment claim by a makeup artist later settled by ESPN.
Simmons blamed the rupture between him and Skipper on jealous ESPN executives whispering in Skipper’s ear. Personally, I think it was the previous departure of his mentor, ESPN editor John Walsh, that greased the skids for his exit. But Simmons is convinced there was a cadre of suits in Bristol out to get him:
He hobnobs with the rich and powerful.
HBO is paying Simmons $7 million to $9 million annually, according to THR. That’s quite a bump over the $5 million a year he was collecting from ESPN.
MORE: 10 ESPN talents most likely to land own TV shows
Once he became a free agent, he was courted by the biggest names in sports media and technology. As detailed by THR:
He’s a ‘jackass.’
Maybe there’s a reason Simmons doesn’t do a lot of interviews. He usually gets himself in trouble with his mouth.
The most incendiary quote from the THR profile was Simmons pointing to the departures of strong ESPN personalities such as Jason Whitlock and Keith Olbermann and declaring: “They’ve now gotten rid of everybody who is a little off the beaten path. Ask yourself this: Who would work there that you respect right now?”
MORE: Whitlock dishes on The Undefeated
That didn’t go over well with many of his former ESPN and Grantland colleagues who still work in Bristol. Simmons hastily apologized on Instagram, calling himself a “jackass”:
He’s now a ‘feminist.’
Fatherhood has changed Simmons for the better. After previously mocking the WNBA and women’s sports, Simmons is now an advocate thanks to his daughter. As reported by THR:
A Deadspin story was beginning of the end.
One of the juiciest parts of the profile is Simmons discussing his falling-out with Skipper, with whom he once had a tight relationship. He points to a story from John Koblin in 2013 that blamed Simmons (the real “shadow president” of ESPN) for the departure of Magic Johnson from “NBA Countdown,” which has undergone countless revamps and cast changes. Via THR:
He won’t leave a penny on the table.
Everybody was surprised when Simmons let Skipper and ESPN seize the narrative about his split from the network without publicly firing back. Why the long silence? Where was the bomb-throwing Sports Guy who had called Goodell a “liar,” asked his followers on social media?
Turns out there was a reason for Simmons’ disappearance: He wanted to collect all the money ESPN owed him before going off on his own. Here’s Simmons in THR:
“Part of me thought about leaving ESPN early, but I was like, ‘No, I’m actually gonna take every (last) dollar they owe me.’”
MORE: Inside Skip Bayless’ shocking defection to FS1
Look, Simmons may have some perfectly legit grievances. Success causes jealousy. I know for a fact there were (and still are) suits in Bristol who resented his golden boy status, first with Walsh, then with Skipper.
But at some point, Simmons has to get over it and move on. Tens of thousands of journalists have been fired or laid off in recent years. Only one of them — Simmons — was wined and dined by media and tech executives desperate for his services.
Paragraphs like this won’t earn Simmons sympathy among out-of-work journos who can’t retreat to a beach house like the Sports Guy to navel-gaze:
Living well is the best revenge, Bill. Rather than trying to even the score with Skipper and his enemies, the best way to strike back at ESPN is to make it rue the day it let you walk out the door.
