The Bill Simmons Podcast is one of the biggest sports shows in the U.S., and its listeners often straddle the line between loving and hating the man who hosts it. In a Wednesday appearance on Up & Adams with Kay Adams, Simmons addressed fans’ theory that he cheats on his weekly “Guess the Lines” NFL segments as well as a popular new trivia game.
Simmons has cohosted a Sunday NFL recap show on his feed since 2006 with “Cousin” Sal Iacono, and fans have long assumed both hosts take a peak at sportsbooks’ lines before “guessing” the point spread on-air. When asked about it, Simmons basically called out his haters as jealous.
“All the greats, when they hit a certain point, people start wondering, ‘is this real, what are they doing, are they getting into performance-enhancing,’ things like that,” Simmons joked. “Sal and I have been doing ‘Guess the Lines’ on the Sunday podcast I have for 17 years, and it’s gotten to the point that I usually feel we’re going to be within a point for every game.”
Just great content, nothing unethical to see here.
“I do not cheat,” Simmons said. “I feel bad because I spank Sal every week and I feel bad about it, but he’s been a good sport about all the losing.”
Recently, Simmons, like many, has taken to posting his Immaculate Grid results to his Instagram story. Listeners have noted his absurd rarity scores and names like Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Otis Birdsong popping up.
After introducing him to Rob Gronkowski earlier in the segment, Adams poked him about his grids, too.
“I just was an only child who loved sports, and the Immaculate Grid rewards people who can remember things from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s really well,” Simmons explained. “Whereas most people who play that, they remember the last 20 years. So I’m ready to challenge people for real.”
There you have it. Simmons is just that big of a sports nerd.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.