No, the draft isn’t being held in Boston. It just sounds that way.
Through both nights of the draft, Commissioner Roger Goodell has heard the boos repeatedly and regularly from fans attending the draft in Chicago. Next year, fans in a new city will have the chance to greet him, over and over, with a Park Avenue cheer.
It raises a broader question, one that became relevant a year ago when the name of quarterback Marcus Mariota was butchered at pick No. 2 (and Philip Dorsett later in the round): Why does Goodell keep delivering the picks personally?
Big Shield loves to talk about public confidence in the game. How is it good for public confidence in the game when the man ultimately in charge of it is being continuously disrespected by the only large, televised gathering of fans he addresses every year?
The time has come for the league to consider hiring an actor to deliver the picks, or to use a rotating cast of characters, like an awards show. The draft should be a celebration of the game, not a celebration for the fans’ apparent disdain of the man who runs the game.