During the second half of the Vikings-Giants playoff game, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell surprised a young fan with tickets to Super Bowl LVII in February.
Charlie Huizinga, a young boy suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was enthusiastically enjoying the game between his favorite team and the New York Giants surrounded by family in friends. And, the NFL commissioner refused to let the excitement die. Approaching Charlie, he surprised the child with tickets to Super Bowl LVII.
The boy immediately erupted into a roaring scream, showcasing his pure excitement over the gift. In fact, the moment was so touching, fans couldn’t help but express their emotion over the surprise on social media. “Ok, that moment just made me cry,” tweeted CBS Sports Radio’s, Amy Lawrence. “The Commissioner surprised young Charlie Huizinga with Super Bowl tickets as he battles leukemia. His unadulterated joy was absolutely priceless! Thank you, @NFL.”
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Roger Goodell continues to be critiqued by countless people throughout the NFL
Although the moment was undeniably wholesome, NFL fans aren’t ready to forgive Goodell quite yet. Since his emergence as the commissioner, the 63-year-old businessman is a highly criticized figure in the world of football. Most recently, Goodell has taken heat for the Bills-Bengals game and whether or not they would continue to play after Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field.
Rather than following standard protocol, they decided to suspend the game and plan a rematch. However, this decision lead to an emergence of issues, especially regarding where to play the next game, and feel this could have been avoided if the two teams continued to play.
“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” Goodell said in a statement at the time. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addressed the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances.
Additionally, he discussed the decision during an appearance on Patriots Preview on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “The coaches, the players, they’re hearing from their players. You want to get all that information. A standard practice would be to resume play, but when you get feedback that it may not be appropriate, that’s when Troy made the decision to suspend play,” Goodell tried to explain.
“Which was the right decision, and allow everyone to go back and let’s gather ourselves and get more information, which was clear we needed to do,” he continued. “Then I made the decision to postpone shortly thereafter.”
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