Fact Check: Does NFL plant fans in the audience? Viral video of Roger Goodell clown T-shirt incident debunked

Roger Goodell is one of the longest-serving executives in the history of professional sports, leading the NFL towards growth not seen since the days of Pete Rozelle and even his predecessor Jeff Tagliabue.

Even when fans do not like him and his rule changes, they respect his longevity and commitment to pushing the league towards the future. However, recently, a viral Draft-day video emerged of a man showing a T-shirt depicting Goodell as a clown before being told off by a New Orleans Saints fan standing beside him:

The woman's demeanor and actions led fans to claim that Goodell had planted her, among others, to build up goodwill for himself:

Canal Street Chronicles, the Saints' official SBNation website, recently identified the man who held the shirt as Andrew Tujague, a native of New Orleans who resides in Kansas City.

In an exclusive interview with writer Carson Caulfield, Tujague said that Goodell did not plant the fan among the crowd. It was actually his sister Mary Lucy, who had other reasons to be worried about:

“When I first brought the shirt, (Mary Lucy) and my mom was concerned that if I showed it, the Saints representative that coordinated everything for us could get in trouble or there could be some sort of repercussions on the Saints. So, when I pulled it up, (Mary Lucy) said ‘Put that up! We don’t want to get her in trouble', and she grabbed it and threw it behind her.”

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How did Andrew Tujague have Goodell clown shirt with him? What happened after the incident?

In the same interview, Tujague discussed the origins of his Goodell clown shirt:

“I bought the shirt four years ago after the no-call. I was joking with one of my cousins about wearing it under my jersey, and if the camera panned over, I would pull my jersey up.”

He also opened up on what happened afterwards - the NFL executive interacted with a few fans, including Tujague, who politely asked for an autograph on the clown shirt. Surprisingly, the commissioner agreed:

“He was a good sport about it. He said, ‘Oh that’s a good shirt. I have a couple of those at home.’”

The shirt incident was not the only meaningful event to happen to Tujague that night. He also met legendary Saints safety Roman Harper, who was on hand to announce the team's second-round pick, who turned out to be Notre Dame DE Isaiah Foskey.

Nevertheless, Tujague does not regret hoisting the shirt that made him briefly famous:

“I think the whole fake fan conspiracy thing is hilarious. But yeah, not a fake. She’s a real fan. I love that the moment got caught, though.”