ESPN suspends Bill Simmons

ESPN has suspended Grantland editor-in-chiefBill Simmons for three weeks after he repeatedly called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "liar" during a profane tirade on a podcast.

The network announced the suspension Wednesday.

"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards," ESPN said in a statement. "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," the statement read.

Simmons' podcast was released Monday night. He called Goodell a "liar" about not knowing what was on a security video that showed former Ravens running back Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator.Simmons also challenged ESPN management about his right to call Goodell a "liar" on the podcast.

Simmons is the editor of the sports website Grantland, which is owned by ESPN. He also appears on ESPN's NBA studio shows.