Former ESPN and now-HBO Sports’ Bill Simmons joined Boston 98.5 The Sports Hub radio show “Toucher and Rich” on Thursday to discuss his time at ESPN, as well as “Deflate-Gate.”
Simmons said it was “obvious” the NFL leaked the report of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady destroying his cell phone to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who broke the news on his ESPN2 show “First Take,” and then went on to say that the whole handling of it, with the NFL appealing the final decision to lift Brady’s suspension still waiting to be heard, “was a comedy of errors.” He also
Simmons explained, “The Stephen A. Smith thing (breaking the news that Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone) was transparent because it was obvious Troy Vincent [leaked that information to him]. The way the NFL handled it each time, which is smart if you’re devious, was if you get your story out first people will buy that version. The same thing happened to me in May; ESPN got their version out first and I wasn’t able to say anything. The way the NFL handled it was just bizarre, and it had to be the other owners badgering Goodell for eight years, that Kraft had him in his pocket and he was Kraft’s puppet. I really think that’s how it played out and he just snapped.”
“It was a comedy of errors. I feel like this is a sports documentary in the next 20 years. How the NFL handled it was insane, just absolutely insane,” he added.
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