Bill Simmons and Erin Andrews Discussed the Reassignment of NESN Reporter Jenny Dell

Entering Super Bowl weekend, Bill Simmons hosted Erin Andrews on the BS Report. Since Andrews is dating Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll and Simmons is a team season ticketholder, the two had pretty strong interpersonal familiarity and rapport.

After discussing the Richard Sherman interview, 50 Cent’s failed kiss attempt, and Simmons’ rambunctious daughter, the talk turned to Jenny Dell, the NESN sideline reporter who was reassigned last week ostensibly because she is dating Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks.

“There’s like weird little codes, and [not dating a player you cover] is one of them, right?” Simmons asked. “It was a huge loss for Red Sox games. I was really bummed.”

Andrews, who grew up a Boston fan, had not previously been apprised of the news of Dell’s job status and didn’t necessarily answer right away whether she thought the mandated job shift was appropriate; she did note that she couldn’t see herself covering hockey games anymore — or even following the sport extensively as she does with others — now that she’s dating Stoll.

“I want him to have his thing,” Andrews said. “The last thing he needs — he deals with enough of my stuff — he doesn’t need me around the boys and around all that kind of stuff. I’m very sensitive even when the NHL asks me to do something — or the Kings — I always make sure to ask him first because he needs to have his own thing.”

“I think it’d be very hard to [date a player I cover],” Andrews continued. “It wouldn’t work for me and how neurotic I am about sports.”

Simmons pressed further. “Do you agree that they should’ve pulled her off, though? I don’t really know how I feel about it — I guess that it’s sort of unprofessional — some people get really mad about it.”

“It’s a difficult situation to handle,” Andrews answered. “Because [the Red Sox] obviously respect [Dell], they like her, and from everything that I’ve [seen and] heard about her she does a really, really good job. But it could just be a really dicey situation, and I get that.”

The audio of that snippet is below (and, again, here’s the whole thing):

Related: NESN Reassigns Sideline Reporter Jenny Dell, Who Is Dating Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks
Related: Erin Andrews Has Had Plenty of Memorable Sideline Interviews. Was Richard Sherman’s the Best?
Related: Kevin Harlan Apologized for Saying Erin Andrews Was ‘Drama Queenish’ in Sherman Interview
Related: Jeff Pearlman Apologized for His Blog Post About Erin Andrews

[Photos via Getty Images]