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NFL Denies Roger Goodell Had Anything to Do With Barstool Sports Ban

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell / AP
February 1, 2017

The NFL says that Commissioner Roger Goodell had no role in the decision to keep members of Barstool Sports, a site that has called for Goodell to be fired, out of Super Bowl media events.

The news broke on Tuesday that Barstool Sports, a website with a rapidly growing reach that just premiered a new show on Comedy Central this week, had its credentials for Super Bowl events stripped by the NFL.

The NFL told the Washington Free Beacon that these reports were false, as Barstool was never granted credentials by the league.

"No action was taken," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "I did not provide them access to the media center or on gameday. Members of the site had created a disturbance at the NFL office in 2015 that led to their arrest."

Asked whether Goodell was involved in the decision to not provide Barstool credentials, McCarthy said that Goodell was "not at all" involved in the decision.

"I made the call," McCarthy said.

The team at Barstool has made antagonizing Goodell over his handling of New England Patriot's quarterback Tom Brady during the "DeflateGate" scandal one of its chief missions. Four employees, including the site's founder David Portnoy, were arrested in 2015 after staging a sit-in at NFL headquarters in New York City.

On the first episode of Barstool's new Comedy Central show, Portnoy was wearing a "Fire Goodell" sweatshirt, which is sold on the site for $45.

Also available for purchase is a "Fire Goodell" snapback hat, "Fire Goodell" koozie packs, a shirt that portrays Goodell as a clown, a "#NotMyCommissioner" shirt, and also a "Goodell Loves ISIS" shirt.

Portnoy believes that "Goodell is Hitler."

In Barstool's own coverage of the NFL's decision to keep its members out of Super Bowl media events, it bragged about how it still managed to get a question to Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The site concluded its post by writing, "F--k Goodell."

Barstool's new Comedy Central show is off to a hot start, as more than 300,000 people reportedly tuned-in to it's Monday debut.

The idea of firing Goodell has also been floated by the Washington Free Beacon, which did not apply to be credentialed for any Super Bowl LI events..

Published under: NFL