Roger Goodell on Deflategate: ‘It’s not all personal in nature, which I know people like to make it’
"If I'm invited back to Foxborough, I will come."
At his pre-Super Bowl LI press conference on Wednesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked several questions about Deflategate and its lingering effect on the relationship between the league and the New England Patriots.
“We had a violation, we went though a process, and we applied punishment in accordance,” Goodell said in reply to an early question. “We’re moving on from that. We’re comfortable with the process and decision.”
Follow-up questions about Deflategate broached the relationship of Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Roger Goodell, asked by @Dan_Shaughnessy about perception of avoiding Gillette Stadium, says “If I am invited back to Foxboro, I will come.”
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) February 1, 2017
“We have a disagreement about what occurred,” Goodell reiterated. “But I continue to admire Robert and Jonathan and the entire [Patriots] organization.”
Goodell, who engaged in a prolonged battle against both the Patriots and Tom Brady that became a legal struggle over the authority of the commissioner, maintained that it was strictly a business issue.
“I don’t think a disagreement leads to distrust or hatred,” said Goodell. “It’s not all personal in nature, which I know people like to make it.”
