NBC was on the call for the NFL season opener at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night and while they were diligent in their on-field coverage, they completely ignored what was happening all around them.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance for the New England Patriots opening game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Before he even got there everyone knew he was walking into a hostile environment. New England fans have had it out for Goodell ever since “Deflategate” and they didn’t hold back when he arrived on their home field. (RELATED: Barstool Sports Makes 70,000 Roger Goodell Clown Towels For Patriots Opening Game)
Roger Goodell was welcomed into Gillette Stadium ahead of the game with thunderous boos and tens of thousands of turquoise towels featuring his face with a clown nose on them. Everyone knew it was going to happen and it was impossible to ignore, yet the NBC crew didn’t mention the towels, or the shirts with the same Goodell image on them, once.
T-Shirts, towels, boos…. Patriots fans came ready to see Roger Goodell. pic.twitter.com/ypTT7RdthK
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) September 7, 2017
Dan Patrick, who hosts the pregame show with former NFL coach Tony Dungy and former player Rodney Harrison, did acknowledge the boos, I’ll give him that. But why not address the overwhelming presence of towels and t-shirts mocking the commissioner of the league?
Failing to do so is a clear surrender by NBC to Goodell and the NFL.
This crowd sounds happy to see Roger Goodell pic.twitter.com/JoFjkuUa6v
— CSN New England (@CSNNE) September 7, 2017
Everyone else watching the game noticed and, if you happened to take a glance at Twitter throughout the course of the game, your timeline was likely loaded with photos and depicting the turquoise towels emblazoned with the commissioner’s clown face. (RELATED: You Will NOT Believe The Words That Just Came Out Of Roger Goodell’s Mouth)
Roger Goodell gets a warm welcome at Gillette Stadium. pic.twitter.com/ZZQUQmfsOk
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 7, 2017
NBC’s failure to acknowledge them is a failure of journalistic integrity and only proves their network is a pawn of the league.
Roger Goodell gets a warm welcome at Gillette Stadium. pic.twitter.com/ZZQUQmfsOk
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 7, 2017
#OperationClownFace was a complete success pic.twitter.com/g3fAZq9JmI
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 8, 2017
#OperationClownFace is an absolute BLOOD BATH pic.twitter.com/chKxQPcNIE
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 8, 2017