Apparently enough time had passed that Goodell felt safe occasionally firing his commissioner-speak into the void without his mentions being too oppressively bad. Either that, or Twitter made it a requirement of their streaming deal that he resume semi-regular posting schedule. I’m willing to believe the latter.

For a guy whose main function is to take lumps from fans and the media so the league’s owners don’t have to, he’s remarkably loath to do it in a public forum. He’s a coward, we all know this, and frankly it would be a little jarring for him to act differently now.

What happens if Goodell actually shows? Pats fans can boo him when the camera flashes shots of the commissioner sitting in a luxury box and feel some satisfaction getting to chant RAWD-JAH, RAWD-JAH in the waning minutes of a Patriots victory, if in fact that’s what plays out. It’s not like that chant won’t happen anyway, and that the commissioner won’t be aware of it, even if he isn’t physically in the stadium.

I’m sure there would be some small amount of catharsis for Pats fans in getting to yell at Goodell in person. Is that ultimately as satisfying as the ability to continue to nurture a persecution complex about their favorite team? For Boston fans, I’m willing to be the answer is almost certainly not. For a team so connected to Donald Trump, it makes sense for much of its followers to continually believe they’re showing up the haters and losers.

Besides, the ultimate retribution is still possible – having Goodell hand the Lombardi Trophy over to Bob Kraft, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick after winning Super Bowl LI. Why waste the big payoff now? That said, if the commissioner delegated the trophy presentation duty to an underling that would be a truly impressive feat of cowardice, though we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Goodell would certainly be chagrined by that spectacle, but it’s hard to believe behind the scenes that NFL headquarters wouldn’t love it. The Patriots are a big ratings draw and the possibility of Goodell getting owned would be a delight to most fans. It might even help more than a few look past the fact that they’re disgusted with another New England championship. Personally, it’d be more fun if Goodell were a more brazen antagonist of the Pats. A good villain would have retweeted Earl Thomas’ remark about the Pats having an easier road to the Super Bowl than most, but The Rog is nothing is not perpetually disappointing and self-serious so that wasn’t going to happen.

In the end, all the NFL really cares about is getting eyeballs on its product. The public got sick of Deflategate ages ago, and support for the Patriots outside their own fan base is not particularly high. People just want to see Goodell humiliated. If anything, that’s the only aspect of this that makes Goodell’s decision not to attend the Pats game on Sunday a curious one. It would be one more easy way to market a big game. Then again, why waste a good moment on a conference championship when you can milk it for all its worth for two weeks before a Super Bowl? If anyone knows an opportunity for excessive marketing, it’s the NFL.