So ... Will Roger Goodell Be In Foxboro For Steelers-Patriots AFC Championship Game?
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Green Bay's upset victory over the top-seeded Cowboys on Sunday afternoon in Dallas sent some shockwaves through the league.
It also threw a wrench into the commissioner's travel plans.
As Roger Goodell has made his way around the country to visit stadiums over the past couple of seasons, his decision to avoid making a trip to Foxboro has not gone unnoticed. And, considering the Patriots organization and quarterback Tom Brady found themselves as the target of an evidentiary-thin crusade from the commissioner, the decision to stay away from the angry fan base (and ownership group) made sense.
But now, Goodell might be in a bit of a pickle. You see, he already visited Atlanta last week, and so, with Atlanta now hosting the NFC Championship Game next week instead of Dallas, the commissioner can't head back to Georgia for a second straight week. If he were to do that, then his intentional avoidance of visiting a marquee franchise as it hosts the AFC Championship Game would become too obvious.
Roger was not present for the Patriots' banner-raising ceremony in 2015, the opening night of the season when Patriots fans expressed curiosity as to the commissioner's whereabouts.
Likewise, he was not there for the home playoff game against the Chiefs. He was not at Gillette for the prime-time game against the Seahawks on a Sunday night this year. And he was not there this past weekend for the playoff game vs. the Texans.
Patriots president Jonathan Kraft joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's pregame show this weekend and said the team doesn't really know how Goodell plans his trips.
"I'll let you ask the league office about that. I don't know how they pick where he goes," said Kraft. "They don't call the teams; that's not the way it works. I think the league office determines where he goes."
For Goodell to go to Seattle in the wild-card round, then Atlanta in the divisional round, then back to Atlanta for the conference championship would bring with it entirely too much negative attention. And, after all, if the commissioner of the league is too frightened to visit the NFL's most successful franchise during his tenure, then how fit is he to actually hold his job?
That's a question that Goodell does not desire to be asked around the country, so he may finally end his streak of steering clear of Gillette Stadium so that he can actually attend a Patriots game.
Chances are, though, he won't be sitting in the seats among the common folk. He likely would not feel quite as welcome as he once did. And even on the field, where he typically engages in some pregame glad-handing with coaches and executives from both teams, Roger might find the conditions to be a bit frostier than the friendlier locales he prefers visiting.
But he'll likely be shown on the television broadcast sitting comfortably in a private suite, seen long enough to show that he's not averse to visiting any of the 32 member clubs on any given Sunday. And if he no-shows? Well, that will open the door for many, many questions about how suited Goodell is for the job. Of course, he'll never be forced to actually answer those questions, but they will arise nonetheless.
UPDATE: Goodell will reportedly visit Atlanta for the NFC Championship Game instead of Foxborough.
