Thousands of fans packed into Detroit’s NFL Draft footprint on Thursday for this year’s draft.
The annual tradition sees the very best college players across the US start their journey in the pros by finding out which team they’ll be playing for.
There are numerous draft day traditions – and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell getting booed is one of them.
It has become customary for the NFL’s head honcho to be met with a chorus of boos during the offseason’s marquee event.
But why?
Well, Goodell is the face of the league and is responsible for all the major decisions that take place across the league.
These decisions can often be unpopular and lead some fanbases to think he’s biased towards certain teams.
Fans don’t usually boo Goodell for one specific reason.
Rather, it’s a combination of grievances over a range of things that includes rising streaming costs, rule changes that hurt the quality of the game and the league’s disciplinary actions.
Booing is essentially a way for fans to vent their frustrations.
Given there isn’t much opportunity to do it in person to Goodell during the rest of the season, the draft represents the perfect place for fans to vocalise their disapproval.
And so, each year, the Commissioner steps out on the draft stage and is met with a wave of boos.
It’s become a running theme, and there’s no doubt fans jump on the trend because it’s the thing to do.
But, to be fair to Goodell, he has embraced it in recent years.
He actually allowed fans to boo him during the virtual draft which was held remotely due to COVID-19.
Ahead of this year’s draft, the NFL account on X shared a video of Goodell with Detroit-native Eminem joking about the boos.
“You know you’re still going to get booed, right?” Slim Shady jokes.
News Summary:
- Why do fans boo NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the Draft?
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