Roger Goodell Attends Patriots' Preseason Game, Takes Photo With Fans
BOSTON (CBS) -- It became headline news when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he'd be in attendance for the Patriots' regular-season opener in September. But nobody asked what the commissioner was going to do in the preseason.
As it turned out, Goodell apparently wanted to get an early look at Gillette Stadium, because he was in attendance Thursday night for the preseason game between the Jaguars and Patriots.
Great night for a game. @nflcommish will be back up for Kickoff events & attend @chiefs vs @Patriots on 9/7 pic.twitter.com/mKxMI90k5T
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) August 11, 2017
A very grainy photo of Goodell hanging with Kraft. It's Goodell's first game back since the 2015 AFC Championship Game pic.twitter.com/aIQPReNAvQ
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 10, 2017
Goodell had not attended a game at Gillette since the saga that came to be known as DeflateGate was born following the AFC Championship Game in January 2015.
While Robert and Jonathan Kraft have expressed some differing views as to how Goodell chooses his stadium destinations, it appears as though Thursday night represents an important first step in rebuilding some level of a public relationship.