Barstool’s Portnoy Shows Off 70,000 Goodell Clown Towels For Patriots’ Opener

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) — The Patriots will open their season and unveil their fifth Super Bowl banner on Sept. 7, but those won’t be the only story lines playing out in Foxboro that night.

A fun subplot for Patriots fans will be the return of Roger Goodell to Gillette Stadium. While it’s true that Goodell made a brief cameo in Foxboro this month at the Patriots’ preseason opener, the visit for the Week 1 opener is sure to draw significant attention from those watching on TV and those in attendance.

And of course, given Goodell’s role in overpunishing Tom Brady and the Patriots for an alleged ball deflation scheme that was never proven, Patriots fans are ready to let the commisioner know how they feel.

Barstool Sports’ Dave “El Presidente” Portnoy will be there to help.

The founder of the popular website is capitalizing on the news that Goodell is “miffed” by Matt Patricia’s wearing of a shirt depicting the commissioner wearing a clown nose by handing out 70,000 towels showing that same picture.

On Twitter, Portnoy showed off exactly what the shipment of 70,000 Goodell clown towels looks like:

As for the distribution, Portnoy said he’ll be relying on some volunteers to pull off the ambitious project, and that he’s “nervous” about the “logistical nightmare.”

“We have a storage facility a mile away from the stadium that will serve as ground zero for Operation Clownface,” Portnoy wrote on Barstool’s site. “We are still accepting volunteers to pick up towels and distribute them to your tailgate buddies and make sure every single person in the stadium has one to wave in Goodell’s ugly mug.”

Portnoy had originally planned to print 30,000 towels for the game, but he was inspired to up the number to 70,000 after Goodell tried the sneak attack in that preseason game.

The capacity of Gillette Stadium is just under 66,000, so theoretically every single fan in attendance could be waving a Goodell clown towel on national television next week.

Combined with this billboard, it’s sure to be difficult for Goodell to not notice the attention being directed his way during this game:

Portnoy wore the shirt for his appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” earlier this summer. Twice this offseason, reports have stated that Goodell was “really bothered” and “miffed” that the Patriots’ defensive coordinator chose to wear the shirt when deplaning following New England’s Super Bowl LI victory.