It’s no secret that President Donald Trump is good friends with many members of the New England Patriots. Just listen to him for a few minutes and he’ll likely namedrop friends like quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
So, it should be no surprise that Trump would have a very low opinion on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Considering Goodell is likely the most hated person among Patriots fans due to his role in Deflategate, Trump would back his friends against the NFL exec.
In a 2015 interview with New York Times Magazine, Trump recognized that his interviewer Mark Leibovich had recently profiled Brady and wanted him to get Brady to say great things about Trump because they are good friends. Describing a recent visit from Brady, Trump detailed the kind of friendship they have.
“He said: ‘Mr. Trump’ — he calls me Mr. Trump, which he shouldn’t, because we play golf all the time. Anyway, he says: ‘Mr. Trump — Donald,’ he doesn’t even know what the [expletive] to call me. It’s the craziest thing. He’s a friend of mine.”
Talk then gravitated toward Deflategate where Trump had an issue with Kraft not fighting harder against Goodell and accepted the punishment of a four game suspension for Brady, a six-figure fine and loss of a first round draft pick.
“You know, Bob Kraft is also one of my best friends,” Trump told me. “I said, ‘Bob, you should have never made the deal.’”
“Bob said, ‘I had a wink from the commissioner,’” Trump added, meaning that Kraft seemed to think that by standing down and not fighting the N.F.L., the league would reduce Brady’s penalty on appeal.
Kraft was under pressure, Trump explained. “He choked, just like Romney choked. He said: ‘You know what? They winked at me.’ I said, ‘Bob when you make a deal, you should have gotten it all wrapped up.’ Who ever heard of making a deal like that? Now you got this mess.” Kraft should never have trusted Goodell, he said.
But Trump’s most stinging comments were pointed toward Goodell. Just like his political or media foes, Trump went down the usual road of insults.
“The commissioner is a weak guy,” Trump said. “When he made the Ray Rice deal, everybody said: You’re stupid. You’re weak. And it was such a weak deal. So now he’s going overboard with their star, Brady.”
He added: “The commissioner is a dope. He’s a stupid guy.”
To a lot of Patriots fans, this could be the first time they have agreed with something President Trump said. Whether or not that’s true, that’s what Trump is going for. In his “State of the League” press conference, Goodell avoided talking about Trump or Trump’s recent Muslim Ban executive order. Instead, Goodell said that the Patriots would welcome him and only hasn’t been to Gillette Stadium since Deflategate because he hasn’t been invited yet.
President Trump may not like Roger Goodell but even he would have to appreciate Goodell’s attempt to put something on someone else other than himself.
