FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (AP) Everything was in place for the New England Patriots to celebrate their fourth Super Bowl championship in the NFL opener.
The four Vince Lombardi Trophies were on the field. A fourth banner was unveiled on the facade. Tom Brady was calling out plays in the huddle.
And commissioner Roger Goodell’s seat was empty.
The Patriots turned their thoughts from ”Deflategate” to the defense of their Super Bowl title on Thursday night with a pregame ceremony full of flags and fireworks and a quartet of shiny trophies. The first three came out with red jacketed members of the team’s hall of fame, and owner Robert Kraft carried the fourth out himself.
As he did, the 2014 banner was uncovered, taking its place above the south end zone next to those from 2001, 2003 and 2004.
The ceremony capped a confusing seven months since the team last appeared on the field in Foxborough on Jan. 18 for the AFC championship game against Indianapolis. Shortly after beating the Colts 45-7, the Patriots were accused of using improperly inflated footballs in the game.
What followed was one of the stranger chapters in the history of the nation’s most powerful sports league, a saga that stretched through the Super Bowl and lingered until last week. After hundreds of pages of investigative reports and court transcripts – all generating millions of dollars of billable hours for lawyers on all sides – a federal judge vacated Brady’s four-game suspension and cleared him to take the field on Thursday.
When he came out before the game, he drew a large cheer from the fans who weren’t taking cover from the rain. The ceremony followed, with the Dropkick Murphys playing, cheerleaders performing an Irish step dance and former Patriots Willie McGinest, Ty Law and Troy Brown accompanying Kraft as trophy-bearers.
Although the smoke from the fireworks made it difficult for those in the stadium to see, the baubles got a big cheer from the crowd. But it was no match for the reception Brady received when he took the field for the Patriots’ first offensive series.
Fans chanted ”Brady” until the three-time Super Bowl MVP motioned for them to quiet down so his teammates could hear the play. He led the Patriots to touchdowns on two of their first three possessions, hitting Rob Gronkowski for the score each time as they opened a 14-3 halftime lead.
Missing from the crowd was Goodell, a longtime Kraft ally who angered the owner and the team’s fans with the botched investigation in the scandal that came to be known as ”Deflategate.” On the day U.S. District Judge Richard Berman vacated Brady’s suspension, Goodell said he would skip the traditional kickoff weekend opener to avoid being a distraction.
Instead, the commissioner was planning to see the Bears and Packers in Chicago, leaving the New England fans to mock him in abstentia.
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