Bill Simmons Invokes Ray Rice Ruling On Podcast, Mocks ESPN With Fake Self-Censoring

On his podcast Monday, Bill Simmons poked fun at ESPN, which suspended him for three weeks in September over comments he made about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's handling of the Ray Rice scandal. (Listen below.)

On the podcast, Simmons, who is the editor-in-chief of Grantland and one of ESPN's most valuable commodities, was chatting with his friend Sal Iacono -- the same guest who was on when Simmons made the remarks that caused his suspension. Simmons brought up a recent ruling by a U.S. district judge that cast Goodell in an unfavorable light. The ruling fell in line with Simmons' initial criticism.

Simmons joked that the Miami Dolphins would sign Ray Rice for one week only, then clarified that no team would want to associate with him. "So, Sal," he continued, "it turned out that an independent judge..." After the word "judge," the podcast cut out and was replaced by "on hold"-type music. When it returned, Sal said, "God, I don't want to be suspended again." The self-censoring-style joke was repeated twice.

Goodell initially suspended Rice, a marquee running back, for only two games after video emerged of him dragging his wife's unconscious body out of an elevator in Atlantic City. After full video emerged of Rice violently pummeling his wife, making the penalty look even weaker and sparking a public outcry, Goodell made the suspension indefinite and claimed that Rice had "misled" him about the events of the evening when the two had first met to discuss it.

On a podcast in September, Simmons took strong issue with that assertion, calling Goodell a "liar" and daring ESPN to suspend him. In its announcement of his punishment, the network said that Simmons had not met its "journalistic standards."

Last week's ruling overturned Rice's suspension, and found that Goodell hadn't been misled by Rice.

Listen to the podcast clip below: