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20 Apr 2011

SITE NEWS: Bill Barnwell Says Goodbye

I'll try to make this brief: I'm leaving Football Outsiders to join the new website Bill Simmons is starting in affiliation with ESPN. Although I've completed some essays that will appear in the forthcoming Football Outsiders Almanac 2011, this is my final contribution to Football Outsiders.

I joined FO as an intern during 2005, my junior year of college. I never could have possibly imagined that I'd eventually have the opportunity to write about football full-time, as I've done for FO during the past three years. It's been an absolute blessing to see a passion of mine turn into a career. My luck over the past few years has been better than anyone else's.

I've been incredibly fortunate to work with such a talented group of people over the past few years, folks whose work constantly forced me to get better. I'll miss contributing to Audibles and swapping ideas with the guys on staff more than anything.

Of course, I owe thanks to a lot of people. Aaron Schatz, obviously, for giving me the opportunity here at FO. Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch, for giving me a chance to develop as a writer and researcher in front of actual eyeballs. Gregg Rosenthal at Rotoworld, Chris Carle and Jeremy Dunham at IGN, and Dan Kaufman at ESPN Insider all believed in my work and gave me writing gigs for some incredibly naive reason. I hope I repaid that trust.

And, finally, I have to thank you, Football Outsiders readers. You created this monster. Thank you for buying books, providing feedback on articles, and clicking on that Catholic Match Girl ad a million times. Your high standards have always made me strive to get better as an analyst and as a writer. You all are proof that there will always be an audience for smart, passionate discussion. I'll miss you all. (Oh, and just in case there was any doubt: No, I was never Raiderjoe. In case it wasn't patently obvious, I'm nowhere near that funny.)

Thanks again.

-- Bill Barnwell

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 20 Apr 2011

50 comments, Last at 28 Jul 2011, 12:32pm by Noah of Arkadia

Comments

1
by theprophecy :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 1:48pm

Man Simmons is snapping up everyone good. Congrats Bill, hope you can still contribute here occasionally.

18
by Dave :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 4:41pm

Yeah, but as long as he's still involved, the place will never meet its full potential...

2
by Tor (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 1:50pm

Thanks for all the excellent work. Good luck on the new project!

3
by Aggie (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 1:51pm

I really liked Bill's writing.
Aside from all the sarcasm of course.
Will you still be doing ESPN chats?

4
by Spielman :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 1:57pm

Good luck, man. Keep doing good work.

5
by Amos (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 2:01pm

Best wishes. Loved all the content before. I'm sure I'll love it in the future.

6
by otros :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 2:04pm

Man, Split hearing this news. Really enjoyed your contribution here, Bill. (Also, you helped me get an A on an econometrics final project, big thanks).

But then, I'm pretty sure I'll be reading on your new post.

Grats, Bill.

7
by Eddo :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 2:08pm

Congratulations and good luck, Bill.

8
by Rick Reilly (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 2:23pm

When Bill was fighting oppressing troops in war torn Bosnia as a young lad, he never dreamed of writing for a football website and then later a general sports website started by a popular ESPN personality. Funny how things work out like that. Good luck, William...I am glad that you are not another casualty of the NFL owners' greed.

9
by Karl Cuba :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 2:35pm

Sad to see Bill go, I've enjoyed his work here. Happy for him that he's still going to be getting to do what he loves.

10
by drobviousso :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:13pm

Thanks for many great articles.

11
by MilkmanDanimal :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:18pm

I'm assuming this means Simmons' new site will have even more FO references than his column currently does. Good luck and we'll see you over there.

12
by Shattenjager :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:33pm

I'll just add to the chorus: Good luck, Bill.

I'm starting to be interested in this site Simmons is doing just because it seems to be such an odd mix of people he's bringing in.

13
by nat :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:37pm

So long, Bill! Good luck and congratulations.

14
by MCS :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:39pm

Congratulations and best of luck, Bill.

15
by Aaron Brooks' Good Twin (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:55pm

So long and thanks for all the fish!

I can't wait for coverage of Simmons' lockout.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110304

16
by Theo :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 4:02pm

Goodbye and good luck Bill, you really did grow as a writer.

Catholic Match Girl... hmmmmmm.

17
by Alex51 :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 4:06pm

Congratulations! Good luck with your new gig.

19
by tuluse :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 5:01pm

Congrats, and good luck.

20
by Mr. Housebroken :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 5:22pm

Thanks Bill. I appreciated checking my fantasy sit/start decisions with your posts (after I had checked it out against the DEF DVOAs). I also appreciated the few emails I had interacted with you on as well. Best of luck to you going forward.

21
by coboney :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 5:55pm

Good Luck Bill and thanks for all the stuff we've read from you here over the years. A sad day to have you depart.

22
by Jerry :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 6:08pm

Congratulations, thanks, and good luck, Bill.

Can someone post a link to a description of Simmons' new site? This is the first I've heard of it, which means I'm hanging out in either the right or wrong places.

33
by Shattenjager :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 2:53pm

I don't know that there is a written description anywhere. Simmons discussed it on the B.S. Report briefly a while back (I think it was the March 2 edition with Chuck Klosterman), but he said he didn't want to say too much until the contracts were all signed. He described it as a "spin-off" site that would have a number of writers and podcasts but didn't give much more information. Since then, he's mentioned a few writers (none of whom I had ever heard of and who don't seem to have much of anything in common with one another) besides Klosterman who will be writing for his site but not given any more real information.

34
by Jerry :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 3:28pm

Thanks.

And I'll officially note that it's good to have FO back online.

48
by Sid :: Fri, 05/06/2011 - 5:06pm

it was offline?

49
by Jerry :: Fri, 05/06/2011 - 6:58pm

Not as long as you've been, apparently. ;)

When the Amazon cloud went down, FO went with it.

23
by parttimemovieguy :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 7:37pm

Congrats on your new digs. You will be missed.

Go Raiders!

@ptmovieguy

24
by Mr Shush :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 7:46pm

"No, I was never Raiderjoe. In case it wasn't patently obvious, I'm nowhere near that funny."

Is Bill hinting that Tanier's Raiderjoe?

/epileptic trees

Many congratulations and best of luck. Hope the new gig lets you write about soccer from time to time, too, as you make a hell of a lot more sense on that subject than any mainstream journalist on this side of the Pond I can think of.

25
by Michael LaRocca (not verified) :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 9:02pm

I never did like Bill Barnwell anyway. KIDDING! Best of luck, dude.

26
by MJK :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 9:11pm

Congrats, Bill, and thanks for all the work!

Glad you're having success. It's alwasy great to see a fellow Husky doing well!

27
by Jere :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 9:59pm

Congrats Bill, I'm sorry to see you go. With no disrespect meant to the other fine writers at FO, I do think you and Aaron are the cream of the crop - and I mean that across media platforms. I take it given FO's affiliation with ESPN and Simmons that some crossover will remain. Best to you and all, Jere

PS. Who will be giving me crappy fantasy advice when the NFL decides to play nice again?!? ;)

28
by tally :: Wed, 04/20/2011 - 10:43pm

Does it matter? Or are you afraid of accidentally receiving good advice?

I kid, I kid. Sad to see Barnwell go but eager to see his contributions to Simmons new site.

29
by AlanSP :: Thu, 04/21/2011 - 12:44am

Thanks for all the work you've put in here and good luck with the new gig.

30
by D :: Thu, 04/21/2011 - 1:50am

As much as I hate to see you go, I can't help but congratulate you. I have enjoyed reading your stuff over the past 4 years. Good luck.

35
by D :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 4:30pm

The servers crash as soon as Bill leaves. This can't be a good sign.

36
by Drunkmonkey :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 4:43pm

That's what I wondered as soon as I saw the headline. I was wondering if the crash was the website's way of saying that it didn't want him to leave.

31
by justanothersteve :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 11:40am

Many thanks for your work here. Good luck and I guess I'll have one more site I'll be checking out on a regular basis.

32
by one.cool.customer :: Sat, 04/23/2011 - 12:09pm

All the best, Bill. Really enjoyed you stuff over the years.

37
by andrew :: Sun, 04/24/2011 - 12:39am

Once an outsider, always an outsider.

well except for Easterbrook.

38
by Jimmy :: Sun, 04/24/2011 - 7:31am

Best of luck Bill.

39
by stephenbawesome :: Mon, 04/25/2011 - 8:26am

Congratulations on the new venture, and good luck.

40
by Tommy Salamistick (not verified) :: Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:38am

Bill, is this the last time I will be able to take a shot at you since Simmons usually avoids a comments section? Well guess what! Best of luck but this is a terrible hire by Simmons!

41
by The Other Ben Johnson (not verified) :: Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:44am

Is there a stat we can use to calculate what player might have had better luck than Bill Barnwell over the past few years? Matt Cassel comes to mind. May you hand off to Jamaal Charles all day long at your new job, Bill.

42
by Kevin from Philly :: Tue, 04/26/2011 - 9:38am

Working for ESPN (a.k.a. "The Dark Side")? Well, I guess it coulda been worse - you could have been the player to be named later in Tanier's trade from the NJ public school system. Good luck with the new gig.

43
by MP (not verified) :: Mon, 05/02/2011 - 2:16pm

Feels like when Leigh Montville left the Globe. Good luck Bill.

44
by Raiderjoe :: Wed, 05/04/2011 - 5:43pm

firtst itme back on site in maybe week or two weeks . Just saw this right now at 5:40. Goign to get a 6pakc later after suppepr and readd whole thing annd wriite some comemnts. Hav eosme ctahcing up to do with reaidng herer

45
by Raiderjoe :: Wed, 05/04/2011 - 11:15pm

Good lcuk, Bill Barnwell. Nicie reading thigns you wrote here and wsill do so on Bill Suimmons site too.

46
by Kevin from Philly :: Thu, 05/05/2011 - 8:29am

I'd rather read Brooklyn Decker's thigns, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

47
by Sid :: Fri, 05/06/2011 - 5:05pm

I read all of Simmons's columns and listen to some of his podcasts and I haven't heard him mention this site.

In the latest column there's a sidebar advertising it, but this came out of nowhere for me.

50
by Noah of Arkadia :: Thu, 07/28/2011 - 12:32pm

Good luck, Bill! Thanks for all the good work.

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