Look: Roger Goodell is at Gillette Stadium And Fans Are Wearing Shirts Trolling Him
Say what you want about Roger Goodell, but he's showing a healthy amount of bravery (if not bravado) by showing his face at Gillette Stadium tonight.
Of course, as the league's commissioner, Goodell has no choice but to attend the NFL's opening regular-season game between the Patriots and the Chiefs. But he knows he's going to get ruthlessly booed and recklessly heckled, as Patriots fans despise the way he handled the Delategate scandal that eventually saw Tom Brady suspended for four games. As a general rule, Boston sports fans aren't prone to forgiving nor forgetting.
They just downright hate the guy:
Patriots fans have been looking forward to Goodell's appearance for months, and you can be sure they've got some tricks up their sleeves. One of those Patriots fans is Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports. Barstool has been selling turquoise shirts depicting Goodell as a clown—red nose and all—on its website, and Portnoy showed up to Gillette early and gave out thousands of towels that match those shirts.
Portnoy spoke at length with TheMMQB's Kalyn Kahler about the stunt, and told her that Barstool spent $140,000 on 70,000 towels. “All Patriot fans despise Goodell," Portnoy said. "It’s not like time has healed wounds.”
Here's a picture of Portnoy rocking the turquoise shirt:
And here's an image every Boston fan will love: Goodell talking to Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt with dozens of t-shirts and towels visible.
I have missed you, Patriots fans.