[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Surprising. I thought that a lot of the Simmons and ESPN not liking each other was all a show. They are a huge name that opens whatever door (or gets him whatever tickets, etc.) he wants opened. He seems to really really like being important and hanging with celebrities, and ESPN helps him be that person.

ESPN got the clicks of the people who enjoyed reading Simmons go off against ESPN, the NFL, etc. Basically, by keeping one of their critics in-house, they could control (and profit from) anti-ESPN-corporate rhetoric.

I don't think that it was as contrived as meetings where they planned out what he would say. But I did think that there was an unspoken understanding where his "I'm a bad boy outsider" gimmick worked well for everyone.

He will pretty much be able to get a blank check from FS1 or another site wanting to gain instant credibility. And if he takes Barnwell, Lowe, etc with him (or an implicit understanding that they will come when their ESPN contracts are up)? That's a pretty good package deal.

I think the thing that is tricky is the criticism of the NFL specifically Roger Goodell. It will be interesting to see how a Fox or a NBC deals with one of their national stars saying the NFL commissioner "lacks testicular fortitude".

The status of other Grantland writers, where they go and whose jobs they might be taking at other sites are far more interesting to me than Simmons. For example, a Yahoo NBA reporting team of Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe would be interesting.