‘If I’m invited back to Foxborough, I’ll come,’ Goodell says
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sought Wednesday to downplay the continuing drama from Deflategate, professing respect for the New England Patriots and insisting he isn’t ducking their home games.
“If I’m invited back to Foxborough, I’ll come,” Goodell said.
He hasn’t attended a Patriots home game in Foxborough, Mass., since the Deflategate case, which culminated with quarterback Tom Brady serving a four-game league suspension at the start of this season.
Goodell recently attended back-to-back Falcons playoff games in Atlanta rather than going to a New England game either of those weeks.
But the commissioner insisted in his annual Super Bowl news conference that he remains satisfied with how his office handled the controversial case, which dates to the January 2015 AFC championship game in which the Patriots and Brady were alleged to have had footballs slightly deflated.
“We had a violation. We went through a process,” Goodell said Wednesday. “We applied the discipline in accordance with our process. It was litigated, as you know, extensively and validated by the (U.S.) 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
“So we’re moving on from that. That’s part of our history, but it’s something that we’re comfortable with — the process, the decision. … We’re focusing on the game now.”
If New England beats Atlanta in the Super Bowl, Goodell would present the Lombardi Trophy to the Patriots and their owner, Robert Kraft.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, Goodell insisted his relationship with the New England organization is not awkward.
“I would tell you that it’s not awkward at all,” he said. “We have a job to do. We do our job.
“We understand when fans who are loyal and passionate for a team object and don’t like the outcome. I totally understand that. That’s not an issue for me.
“And I was in Boston (in the 2014 season) for two consecutive playoff games, the same way I was in Atlanta this year.”
Goodell was asked if he felt welcomed to come to Patriots playoff games this season.
“I have no doubt that if I wanted to come up to a Patriots game and I asked Mr. Kraft, he would welcome me back,” Goodell said. “That’s up to him, though.
“Listen, we have a disagreement about what occurred. … But I continue to respect and admire Robert, Jonathan (Kraft), the entire organization. They are an extraordinary organization, and they are extraordinary people in my view. So I have a very deep, close relationship to them. But that doesn’t change that we have to compartmentalize things we disagree on.
“I’m not afraid of disagreement, and I don’t think disagreement leads to distrust or hatred. It’s just disagreement. You take your disagreements, you find a common place, and you move forward. It’s not personal in nature, which I know people like to make it.”
Kraft sat in the front row at Goodell’s news conference but left immediately afterward without taking reporters’ questions.
“I’ve talked to a lot of fans who would love to welcome Roger back to Gillette Stadium,” Kraft later told The Boston Globe. “If we are fortunate enough to win on Sunday, the kickoff of the (2017) NFL season would present the perfect opportunity.”
Goodell also addressed other topics in his news conference:
- The Super Bowl matchup: He said the Falcons and Patriots "were dominant through the season but particularly dominant throughout the postseason. And no one can (dispute) these two teams are the most deserving and the ones that should be here."
- Asked about this season's decline in TV ratings, Goodell said the league will consider a series of steps to avoid "unnecessary delays" in game action. Such steps, he said, could include: speeding up instant-replay decisions; using a clock to cut the time between extra points and ensuing kickoffs; and reducing TV commercial breaks from five to four per quarter. "I expect to see a lot of those changes made this off-season," Goodell said.
- On the Oakland Raiders' plan to move to Las Vegas, he said there's "a great deal of work to be done" before that could happen.
- Given the Chargers' move to Los Angeles, could San Diego be a potential new home for the Raiders if Las Vegas falls through? Goodell said that would require a stadium deal that the Chargers were unable to reach in San Diego, but he noted a "history of markets that get deals done after a team leaves. It's a painful way to do it."
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
