Bill Simmons called the Ray Rice reinstatement a week ahead of time

It’s well known about ESPN’s Bill Simmons’ disdain for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell having called him out in a September podcast and going after the Commish again during Colin Cowherd’s radio show.

In yet another Patriots-laden NFL picks column written last week, Simmons apparently got his “I told you so” about Ray Rice in. Seven days before the decision reinstating former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice to the NFL, Simmons said the arbitrator would rule that Goodell overstepped his bounds in suspending Rice twice.

In answering a reader’s question about the suspension of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Simmons went HAM:

But no sports commissioner should be able to prevent employees from working for four solid months and/or change the CBA rules on the fly, especially when that same commissioner is already dealing with major credibility issues over the way he handled another complicated issue that — by the way — required a two-day appeal hearing THAT STILL HASN’T YIELDED A VERDICT 15 DAYS LATER EVEN THOUGH THAT VERDICT IS ALMOST DEFINITELY GOING TO REVEAL THAT THE COMMISSIONER ACTED INAPPROPRIATELY AND PRETENDED HE DIDN’T HAVE EVIDENCE THAT HE ACTUALLY HAD.

The former Boston Sports Guy went even further in his rant:

Last point: Only the NFL could turn horrible father Adrian Peterson and horrible fiancé Ray Rice into something remotely approaching the word “victims.” But when you’re being blackballed from pursuing your chosen profession because your employer keeps changing its rules on the fly, resuspending you without new evidence and/or pretending that it never knew about overwhelmingly relevant evidence to your case (even though all signs say otherwise), then what’s the right word? And why would anyone trust the commissioner’s office, as currently set up, to make the right decision about ANYTHING? These are great questions. I have no answers.

You know what’s really crazy? All of this is probably leading to the Vikings releasing Peterson, then a rejuvenated Peterson returning home to Texas, taking a discount to play for Goodell’s buddy, Jerry Jones, and unleashing holy hell on the NFL next season as a learned-from-his-mistakes redemption story playing for the league’s most profitable franchise. This doesn’t seem fishy at all.

Ok, so Simmons is also calling a conspiracy theory between Goodell and the Dallas Cowboys on Peterson, but we’ll broach that if it comes to fruition.

When the decision came out, Simmons went to Twitter to gloat a little:

As I predicted in my 11/21 column – the verdict for the Rice appeal came out on Black Friday. What a coincidence. http://t.co/ggeOcjpD6T

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 28, 2014

Ray Rice's lawyer absolutely hammers Roger Goodell and says "his judgment cannot be trusted." http://t.co/8tSv1L6QiA

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 29, 2014

Overall, Simmons had the Rice reinstatement pegged and continues to throw stones at Commissioner Goodell. It’s apparent that we have not heard the last of Simmons vs. Goodell.

[Grantland]