Kraft wouldn’t spurn Goodell
Commissioner is welcome at stadium
HOUSTON - Robert Kraft can’t wait for Roger Goodell to return to Foxborough.
And the New England Patriots owner — whose relationship with the NFL Ccmmissioner was strained by the “Deflategate” investigation and punishment — envisions the ideal scenario.
“A lot of our fans have asked me about Roger coming back to our stadium,” Kraft said. “If we win Sunday, I think people would like to see him in Foxborough.
“If we win on Sunday, I’m inviting him formally to come to our opener next season.”
Goodell hasn’t attended a Patriots game at Gillette Stadium since January 2015, when New England defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game that sparked the Deflategate saga. It resulted in unprecedented penalties against Kraft’s franchise and the four-game suspension that star quarterback Tom Brady served at the start of this season.
After the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX, they hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL’s showcase Thursday night opener to christen the next season by raising their latest championship banner.
That Goodell missed that event infuriated the Patriots’ fan base, which widely interpreted the commissioner’s absence as a snub – less than a week after a federal judge issued a stay that allowed Brady to continuing playing during the 2015 season amid a lengthy court battle.
Brady ultimately lost in court, and the bad blood remains.
“I really believe the league messed it up badly,” said Kraft, alluding to $1 million fine and the loss of first- and fourthround draft picks on top of Brady’s suspension.
Proud Papa: The youngest Atlanta Falcons fan at the Super Bowl will be Lily Jean Levitre, the three-week-old daughter of Atlanta guard Andy Levitre and his wife, Katie.
Lily was born hours after the Falcons’ divisional round playoff win against the Seattle Seahawks, and she’ll be at NRG Stadium to watch her dad play against the Patriots in Super Bow LI.
Levitre dropped about $1,700 on a ticket for his newborn.
“The story that we can tell her when she’s older, I think she’ll really enjoy that,” he said.
Mack improves: Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn is feeling better about his Pro Bowl center.
While Alex Mack was again listed as limited during Friday’s final practice, Quinn says that Mack looked better than he thought he did the previous day after viewing the tape.
Mack is slowed by a fibula injury sustained in the NFC Championship Game.
Quinn says he is confident that Mack will be “able to do on the things we’re going to ask him to do in the game. It’s going to hurt, but a lot of guys are playing through stuff.”
On with the show: The Patriots have had magic on and off the field.
John Duke Logan has been strolling through the team’s locker room in Houston as the players tape up their ankles and put on their pads. One of them — most often backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett — will shout at him, “What do you have for me today?” Logan reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a deck of cards, and soon a crowd is gathered around.
“I saw him in there a couple of weeks ago and he did some amazing things,” Brady said. “I think everyone is blown away by a little magic.”
As Brady spoke at his weekly news conference, Logan was in the back of the media workroom at Gillette Stadium, shooting video for his actual job as digital content associate for the Patriots website. But it’s as a sort of official team magician that he has attracted a following among the AFC champions.
A 23-year-old native of nearby Hanover, Mass., Logan was 12 when he posted a trick on YouTube and attracted the attention of a talent manager. (When the caller tried to pitch some gigs, Logan told him, “I’ll have to ask my mom.”) By the time he graduated with two majors (entrepreneurship, marketing) and a minor (communications) from Bryant College in Rhode Island, where the Patriots used to train, Logan already had written two books about using the principles of magic as a tool to accomplish one’s life goals.
Logan quickly became a celebrity among celebrities. He has a few rules in the locker room: He won’t approach players in the locker room, but he will perform a trick if requested.
“I realize they have a job to do. The last thing I want is to be a distraction to them,” he said.