Former Flyer Jeremy Roenick was fired by NBC this week, ultimately canned while serving an indefinite suspension for making inappropriate comments about co-workers during an appearance on Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. That included a reference to having a threesome with Kathryn Tappen and another portion of the podcast when he talked about sleeping with ex-teammate Patrick Sharp.

The Crossing Broad editorial board determined Roenick’s firing to be a bit excessive, based on the fact that he apologized publicly, admitted that he went too far, and had been suspended for more than a month at the time of his dismissal. Tappen, while condemning the comments, revealed that she and Roenick remained good friends.

Roenick took to Twitter on Thursday, calling his firing a joke while expressing disappointment and anger. Later, he spoke to TMZ, saying this about the situation:

“It’s important to know that at the time nobody thought it was bad what I was saying. Nobody took offense to it. Nobody was saying anything on social media. Five days went by. Nothing on ‘Spittin’ Chiclets,’ nothing on my social media, nothing anywhere, nothing.”

“Nobody complained until my boss, Sam Flood at NBC, decided that [what I said] wasn’t right, and we all know NBC has made a lot of mistakes covering up things and letting people slide, and all that stuff. I think this was their opportunity to make a statement, have a sacrificial lamb.”

Some readers yesterday noted the handling of the Matt Lauer situation when discussing this scenario with Roenick. Obviously NBC took a lot of heat for the way all of that unfolded, and I think now executives there are in a situation where they they’re going to default to just cutting ties with anybody who comes anywhere close to a #MeToo. That’s understandable from their standpoint, to just try to get out in front of these things before they spiral out of control, but then it results in people like Roenick getting canned for doing things that are rather benign compared to what Lauer was accused of doing, a saga that involved allegations from multiple female NBC staffers over the course of several years and resulted in a rape allegation and the admission of an extramarital affair.

Roenick went on to say that Sharp and Tappen both wanted him back with NBC, saying this about the latter:

“We’re very close, we’re best friends. She’s one of my best friends. She’s still one of my best friends and she’s one of my wife’s best friends.”

He says he has 5-6 job opportunities out there right now. Here’s the full video: