House Speaker Paul Ryan is rooting for “drama” at the Super Bowl and believes it would be “fun to watch” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hand the championship trophy to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Mr. Goodell fined the Patriots and suspended the team’s quarterback, four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, for four games for their role in the so-called “Deflategate” scandal. Relations between the commissioner and the Patriots organization reportedly have soured since the incident.
Mr. Ryan told NBC News that it would be amusing for Mr. Goodell to have to face Mr. Brady, Mr. Kraft, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
The Patriots will compete against the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“That would be actually kind of fun to watch. You know, Roger handing the trophy over to the Krafts. That would be actually kind of interesting,” Mr. Ryan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, explained how he believes the Patriots can win the game — by shutting down Falcons star wide receiver Julio Jones.
“If they can shut down Julio Jones, which they just swarm. The Patriots’ defense is really good. If they can shut down Julio Jones, I think they can win this game. So I bet the odds are with them. I haven’t looked at the actual odds, but I would put the odds on the Patriots,” the speaker said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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