HERE COMES BRADY VS. GOODELL
QB takes revenge mission to Houston
No more ducking, Roger Goodell. The NFL commissioner wouldn’t come to New England to see Tom Brady and the Patriots play, so they’re taking the game to him. Ever been to one of those uncomfortable parties where the host invites someone praying he or she doesn’t show up and then they do? Yeah. Super Bowl LI is going to be just like that, only way more awkward because the entire world will be watching.
When former Patriots quarterbackturned-radio analyst Scott Zolak held up a yellow sign late in the third quarter asking “Where is Roger,” Gillette Stadium actually shook, the approving roar in response was so loud.
Nope, there’s nowhere for the commissioner to hide now. Brady’s (abbreviated) season-long revenge campaign is almost complete after he reached his seventh Super Bowl with a surgical 36-17 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.
All that’s left is for Brady to flash that Cheshire cat grin as he accepts the MVP trophy from Goodell two weeks from now. And if you’ve followed the Deflategate saga at all, or Brady for that matter, you just know that’s coming.
For those trapped on a remote island for the last two years, a recap: The Indianapolis Colts accused the Patriots of using deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game in January 2015. Based on fuzzy science and some shadiness by Brady and two New England equipment guys, the NFL decided that the Patriots were, in fact, cheating.
New England was docked a first-round draft pick and fined $1 million — the largest fine in NFL history, mind you. Patriots owner Robert Kraft opted not to fight the punishment imposed in May 2015, hoping Goodell would show leniency toward Brady. Fat. Chance. Goodell takes the protection of his beloved “shield” personally, and anyone he thinks is playing fast and loose with the rules is going to feel his wrath. Even if that person is a future Hall of Fame quarterback and current NFL poster boy.
Goodell suspended Brady for four games — a harsher sentence than some domestic abusers have gotten. The punishment was delayed while it went through the court system, but Brady finally served it at the start of this season.
Meanwhile, Kraft and Patriots fans have seethed at the injustice of it all, believing Brady and their team were targeted as payback for all of their success. (Four Super Bowl titles, and counting, since the 2001 season for those keeping track.) All that vitriol once reserved for the New York Yankees was turned on Goodell. And don’t think Goodell doesn’t know it. Once a close friend of Kraft’s — he was a guest at the owner’s pre-AFC Championship Game party two years ago — he has been conspicuously absent the last two years. He skipped the season opener here in 2015, an unheard-of slight for the NFL’s kickoff party.
After being in Atlanta for last week’s divisional round, it would have made sense for him to come to New England. No offense to the Packers or Falcons, but that rivalry doesn’t compare with SteelersPatriots.
But nooooo. Goodell decided it was better that he again go to Atlanta, where he could roam the sideline before the game without fear for his physical safety or wardrobe.
“Where is Roger?” came the taunting chants as Brady piled up the points in a record-setting performance.
Oh, Brady and the Patriots will see Goodell soon enough.
In the Super Bowl.