Roger Goodell Jokes About the NFL ‘Script'

Also in Traina Thoughts: Travis and Jason Kelce prank fans; Knicks fans unique celebration; Legendary NFL draft moment; and more.

1. The New Heights podcast (Winner of Sports Illustrated’s Best New Podcast award in 2022), hosted a live show Wednesday night in Kansas City, where the NFL draft will take place Thursday.

The Kelce brothers did their thing and entertained as always.

However, in a shocking twist, it was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell who may have had the show’s best moment.

One of the running jokes, especially on social media, during the 2022 campaign was fans and even players talking about the NFL scripting the entire season. 

Amazingly, Goodell, who made an appearance at the live New Heights show to introduce Jason and Travis Kelce, got in on the joke and actually addressed “the script.”

It’s not often that people compliment Goodell, but everyone should give the commissioner a “well done” for that one. Even though the concept of the NFL fixing games and scripting outcomes is totally preposterous, it’s still not a subject you’d expect Goodell to even mention, let alone joke about.

The usually stiff Goodell must have been really fired up for the New Heights show, because he even let Travis Kelce pick him up and spin him around at one point.

Despite Goodell turning into Mr. Personality at the New Heights show, we expect the boos for him at the draft to be as loud as ever Thursday night.

2. One more note about the New Heights show: This was a very solid way to mess with the live crowd.

3. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped Thursday, and it features an interview with a man you’ll be seeing a lot of the next four days: NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

Eisen talks about hosting the NFL draft for the 19th year in a row, what covering the draft is like, what his goal is when hosting the draft, whether the assignment is still a difficult one, whether he feels competitive going head to head with ESPN and whether he prefers covering Super Bowl Sunday or the draft.

Eisen also discusses his recent saga with losing his blue checkmark on Twitter and then getting it back, how Elon Musk has affected his business and the most cringeworthy fallout from Musk’s Twitter Blue.

Other topics covered with Eisen include Aaron Rodgers getting traded to the Jets, the Yankees’ futility, his annual “Run Rich Run” 40-yard dash for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

4. Knicks fans are having a blast now that their team is finally relevant after about 20 years. After New York beat Cleveland on Wednesday night to win its first-round series, the Knicks faithful celebrated in the streets of midtown Manhattan (even though the game was in Cleveland) by chanting "F--- Phil Jackson," who had a disastrous run as the team’s president.

5. Good news for those on the East Coast. The NBA Finals will begin a half hour earlier this season. After starting at 9 p.m. ET the past several years, tip off for the games will be at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the two Sunday games getting an 8 p.m. tip.

Game 1: Thursday, June 1, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: Sunday, June 4, 8 p.m. ET
Game 3: Wednesday, June 7, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 4: Friday, June 9, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 5: Monday, June 12, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 6: Thursday, June 15, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 7: Sunday, June 18, 8 p.m. ET

6. This should be required viewing for all NFL fans every year on draft day: the feud between ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Colts GM Bill Tobin.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: James Corden will wrap up his eight-year run as host of CBS’s Late Late Show on Thursday night. If you've never seen Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” with Paul McCartney, which is so much more than the typical “Carpool Karaoke,” carve out some time today and watch it.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.