Did Chris Mortensen delete Deflategate tweet because of Bill Simmons?

ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen on Tuesday finally deleted his infamous tweet about Deflategate. Mort apparently figured out where the “delete” button was around the same time Bill Simmons started chiming in on his false report.

Coincidence? Most people don’t seem to think so. Here is how Simmons demonstrated what he believes Mortensen should have done from the start.

Simmons then sent a tweet claiming Grantland’s Rembert Browne is the father of Kim Kardashian’s second baby. He deleted that tweet and followed with this:

My bad. It turns out that @rembert is NOT the father of Kim Kardashian's second baby. I retract the report and I have deleted the tweet.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 4, 2015

And below, according to Simmons, is the equivalent of what Mortensen did.

Sources tell me that @Rembert wrote Meek's last diss track.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 4, 2015

Sources – @rembert did NOT write the last Meek diss track, but he did listen to it, so I am not going to delete the tweet.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 4, 2015

As of Monday, Mortensen still had not deleted a tweet that claimed 11 of the 12 balls the New England Patriots used in the AFC Championship Game were two pounds per square inch underinflated. The tweet finally disappeared on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Mortensen tried to justify his actions in this interview.

Simmons may no longer work for ESPN, but it sure looks like he has an influence over the World Wide Leader.