Bill Simmons Accuses Stephen A. Smith of Blasting Tom Brady for the NFL

Former ESPN employee Bill Simmons took aim at the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" Thursday, accusing ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith of having an NFL-supported agenda against New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension for alleged involvement in the Deflategate scandal was denied Wednesday, according to ESPN.com, and Smith tweeted the following on the matter:

Simmons then responded to his former co-worker:

Simmons is a Massachusetts native and noted Patriots fan. He worked for ESPN from 2001 until 2015, and he is currently contracted to HBO.

In addition to his feelings on the manner in which ESPN and Smith have handled Deflategate, Simmons offered an opinion on the true reason for the NFL's steadfast belief that Brady should be suspended four games:

The two-time NFL MVP was originally slated to miss the first four games of the 2015 NFL regular season, but Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision was reversed upon appeal.

Brady's suspension was then reinstated this offseason, and it is now nearly set in stone, unless the future Hall of Famer successfully takes the case to the Supreme Court.

Assuming Brady is indeed out of the picture for the first four weeks of the season, third-year man Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to start in his place.

New England has a tricky early-season schedule against the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills, and if Garoppolo doesn't hit the ground running, the Pats' seven-year run of AFC East titles may be in jeopardy.

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