New England Patriots

What are you afraid of, Roger Goodell?

A Patriots fan holds a sign depicting Roger Goodell as Waldo. Barry Chin/Globe Staff

Roger Goodell’s office made it official early Tuesday: The NFL commissioner is electing to attend the NFC Championship game between the Packers and Falcons Sunday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

In today’s corporate-speak, this is what’s known as “bad optics.’’

It looks as though the commissioner is afraid to come to Foxborough.

What a joke. Are we really supposed to believe that the NFL boss can’t sit in the back of a tinted-window limo that will take him straight into the underbelly of Gillette Stadium Sunday night?

He doesn’t have to go on the field or sit in the stands (Goodell did sit in the Foxborough stands when the Patriots played the Ravens in the playoffs two years ago). He’s worried about riding in a private and secure stadium elevator that will deliver him to the red level, where he can sit in a cushy corporate box and sip chardonnay while the Steelers and Patriots battle for the AFC championship?

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