Roger Goodell won't be on hand to watch Patriots in AFC Championship Game

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell won't be making his return to Gillette Stadium on Sunday to watch the New England Patriots.

A league spokesman confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that Goodell is scheduled to attend the NFC Championship Game, in which the Atlanta Falcons will host the Green Bay Packers, rather than the AFC Championship Game in Foxborough, Mass., between the Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. ESPN was the first to report the news.

Goodell has not attended a Patriots home game since the 2014 playoffs and ensuing Deflategate scandal, in which the league suspended quarterback Tom Brady for four games after an extensive legal battle. 

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This will be Goodell's second consecutive week in Atlanta, as he attended the Falcons' divisional-round win over the Seattle Seahawks last Saturday before traveling to Kansas City to watch the Steelers defeat the Chiefs on Sunday.

Brady said Monday on a radio interview with WEEI that he wasn't concerned about the commissioner's travel plans.

“He’s the commissioner, so obviously whatever he wants to do, he can do,” Brady said. “If he wants to come, that would be — yeah, he can come.”

Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.

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