Roger Goodell On NFL Denying Credentials To Barstool Sports: ‘I’m Not Familiar With This’

Barstool Sports has recently become a favorite media outlet for many sports fans, especially young male fans, and it officially became mainstream on Monday when it launched a new show on Comedy Central.

Roger Goodell On NFL Denying Credentials To Barstool Sports

However, the NFL is clearly not a supporter of the outlet.

The league denied Barstool Super Bowl LI credentials, as NBCSports’ ProFootballTalk first reported, forcing the outlet’s employees to cancel scheduled appearances on Radio Row, including a planned spot on PFT Live today.

The main reason for the NFL’s decision stems from a protest Barstool writers staged in 2015 at the league’s headquarters to voice discontent with the NFL’s handling of Tom Brady’s four-game Deflate-gate suspension.

When the employees refused to leave, they were arrested on the site.

Despite all this, Barstool Sports’ well-known provocateur PFT Commenter, was able to attend Monday’s Media Day, where he asked New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick a question regarding whether or not he intended to bring back running back Danny Woodhead this offseason. 

Woodhead, who has played for the newly-relocated Los Angeles Chargers since 2013 (then-San Diego), played for the Patriots from 2010-2012.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has insisted he knows nothing about a ban for Barstool Sports. 

“I’m not familiar with this,” he said Wednesday. “I really have no information on who’s credentialed and who’s not credentialed. I’ll take your word for it. I assume there’s a reason why there’s a particular organization that may not be credentialed to be here, but I think you can see by looking around, we have pretty open arms about who attends the Super Bowl as a media outlet.”

Barstool’s show on Comedy Central is called “The Barstool Rundown:” there, they will recap the daily activities from Super Bowl week.

The blog has gained reputation as a controversial outlet following a story from last year that slammed how it uses social media as a weapon.

Barstool Sports has not officially commented on the issue, although the site’s founder Dave Portnoy tweeted a link to the PFT story along with an unflattering picture of Goodell and a message for the commissioner: “Hey @nflcommish you look like an a–hole.”

The Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons will face off in Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday.

HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 01: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks with the media during a press conference for Super Bowl 51 at the George R. Brown Convention Center on February 1, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)