It’s hard to believe that the loudmouth we knew here in Chicago as Jay Mariotti would ever have his voice silenced — but after his arrest last weekend on domestic charges, his current employers have put him on the sidelines:
↵↵↵Mariotti will be sidelined next week from his regular role as panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” perhaps longer, it was learned Thursday. AOL Fanhouse, for which Mariotti has been a columnist since January 2009, has suspended him pending its own investigation.
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ESPN, in particular, has been tough on its on-air employees and contributors who have gotten in trouble with the law; Steve Phillips was fired last year after being accused of an inappropriate relationship with another ESPN employee, and Harold Reynolds was dumped by the Worldwide Leader earlier for alleged similar conduct.
↵The Deep Dish figures Mariotti’s probably done at ESPN; AOL may be more tolerant, but that remains to be seen, as does the resolution of the charges against Mariotti.