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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cory Woodroof

Why do fans boo NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the NFL Draft?

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2023 and has been updated.

If you’ve ever watched the NFL Draft, then you know about the booing.

Every year since he got the job in 2006, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gets a chorus of boos from fans in attendance when the draft gets underway. Seriously, people boo the guy like there’s no tomorrow.

Well, why is that? Why is Goodell getting booed so much?

Sports fans love booing league commissioners. Perhaps it’s the vantage point that someone like Goodell is the boss, the person responsible for the rules of the game.

It’s not always easy being at the top when you’re the one who gets blamed for anything that goes wrong with the sport.

However, Goodell’s popularity in the league has dwindled over the years for various reasons, and the boos only seem to get louder as the years go on.

Nobody knows when Goodell will step away from the job he’s had for quite some time, and nobody knows if the next person to follow him will also get all these boos.

One thing we can count on is NFL Draft attendees keeping the tradition alive whenever Goodell gets on stage.

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