Roger Goodell is making his highly-anticipated return to Gillette Stadium on Thursday night for the NFL opener, but the commissioner reportedly plans to be long gone before New England Patriots fans get a chance to tell him how they feel about him.
Goodell was actually in Foxboro for a preseason game this year, but his appearance went largely unnoticed. This time, he is expected to in some way take part in recognizing the Patriots for winning their fifth Super Bowl. However, Kalyn Kahler of The MMQB has been told that Goodell plans to fulfill his duties early and leave the stadium before most Patriots fans come through the gates.
The commissioner attends the opener every year, so this date has been on Goodell’s schedule since New England won Super Bowl 51. In an effort to mitigate the negative reaction from fans in Foxborough, Goodell will finish up his pregame duties on the field early and will be off the field before the majority of Patriots fans are inside the stadium. The Patriots will not flash to any shots of the commissioner during the game on the video screens inside the stadium, and Goodell will not be sitting in Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s suite. (He did visit Kraft’s suite briefly during his preseason appearance.)
The Patriots may be trying to do Goodell a favor by not showing him on their stadium video screens, but a spokesperson for NBC said the network will show Goodell when appropriate and “cover any related news.”
“We will show the commissioner during coverage of the game, and cover any related news appropriately,” the spokesperson told The MMQB.
Here’s where things will get interesting. David Portnoy, a huge Patriots fan who founded Barstool Sports in Boston, has ordered and distributed 70,000 towels featuring Goodell’s face depicted as a clown. Portnoy hopes almost all Patriots fans will be waving the towels during Thursday night’s game.
@stoolpresidente @barstoolsports @EKANardini 2morrow these kids will be doin God's work…2night they designed my dream bedroom set… pic.twitter.com/lqIFUVAz0m
— WEK (@wallyworld24) September 7, 2017
If Portnoy’s plan is successful, it will be hard for NBC to ignore the towels.
“It’s an obnoxious color, turquoise, so if we could get the majority of the stadium waving these towels, we thought it would be pretty cool, primarily because it will piss [Goodell] off,” Portnoy said.
If you remember, a Patriots coach was seen wearing a shirt with the same Goodell clown image on it after New England won the Super Bowl. Goodell was reportedly angered by the shirt.
Of course, the majority of football fans in New England have despised Goodell since Tom Brady was suspended four games for his alleged role in a ball deflation scheme. They’ve been waiting two years to let the commissioner know how they feel, and they plan on taking advantage on Thursday night.
