EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in attendance for the New England Patriots' game Sunday against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, which is believed to be the first Patriots game he has attended since the league took quarterback Tom Brady to court in the offseason.
Goodell spent time along the Patriots sideline before the game, talking with team owner Robert Kraft, president Jonathan Kraft and musician Jon Bon Jovi.
In his pregame radio interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Jonathan Kraft said Goodell definitely hadn't attended a game at Gillette Stadium, but was uncertain if he had been at one of the Patriots' road games.
Asked about the state of the relationship between the Patriots and Goodell, he said that "our feelings on [Deflategate] are known."
"At the same time, there is other business going on that we're involved in," Jonathan Kraft said. "You separate those two things, and that's the way it's working right now."
Told that some reporters were describing his conversation with Goodell as animated, Kraft said it "definitely wasn't animated," as they had a "very civil conversation" and were discussing e-commerce and digital media.
Asked if it was awkward to have Goodell mingling around the sideline, Kraft said on the radio program, "He's the commissioner of the league."
"He didn't say this to me, but I'm assuming one of the reasons he's here today; he lives in New York, the situation that happened on Friday in Paris -- which is beyond words tragic and horrible -- part of what took place there was at a sporting event," Kraft said. "I'm sure that's one of Roger's motives -- the need to be public, at a venue.
"I give him a lot of credit, wanting to be visible. I think that's why he's here and that way rises above anything else."
