Roger Goodell revels in annual booing tradition at 2026 NFL Draft

The 2026 NFL Draft can officially begin.

As commissioner Roger Goodell took the dais for the first round of the draft Thursday, the crowd at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium let their boos rain down on him — even with a Terrible Towel in hand.

He even egged the fans on, saying: “Pittsburgh, you can do better than that.”

Goodell is no stranger to the draft-day boos, in what has become an annual part of the process — one he seemingly enjoys.

Commissioner Roger Goodell takes a question during a news conference at the NFL football annual meetings, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. AP

That hasn’t always been the case, though.

When it first happened to him in 2011, his fifth season serving as the NFL’s top official and during the NFL’s 3 1/2-month lockout, he was taken aback.

“When I walked on stage, I could feel the boos. Literally. Those were serious boos,” he told “The St. Brown Podcast” in February. “I’m telling you, it hit me right across the chest and almost knocked me back, it was that powerful. So there was meaning behind that for sure.”

Not that he wasn’t prepped for it happening by someone who had been there before in former NBA commissioner David Stern, who was lustily booed every June at his league’s draft.

Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the crowd as the first round of the NFL football draft finishes early Friday, April 30, 2021. AP

“You know, the first person who mentioned that to me was David Stern. The late David Stern, who was the NBA commissioner. And after the first four years or so of the draft, they said, ‘Well, you haven’t gotten the draft boos yet,'” Goodell said. “And maybe that’s your grace period.”

Now in his 20th season helming the NFL’s operations, the 67-year-old has embraced the tradition, seeing is at more of a “playful” occurrence than anything more fraught.

“I think the fans have a right to express themselves any way they want,” he said. “I love the engagement, that’s good for us.”