AP

Tom Brady will be in Foxboro next Thursday for the first game of the 2015 NFL season. Roger Goodell will not.

A few hours after a federal judge ruled that Goodell couldn’t suspend Brady for four games, the NFL confirmed that Goodell will be staying away from the Sept. 10 season opener between Brady’s Patriots and the Steelers.

Per Mike Garofolo of FOX Sports, Goodell won’t attend because he believes the focus should be on the game and festivities. In other words, he knows the reception he would receive from Patriots fans and believes it’s best to stay away.

Patriots-Steelers is the traditional season-opening game that’s played at the site of the defending Super Bowl champion and in front of a national TV audience. DeflateGate will still be a topic of conversation on the broadcast and in the days leading up to the game, but Goodell is hoping his absence will help make it a side story and not the focus of the broadcast.