NFL transcripts from Super Bowl Opening Night leave out Donald Trump and Roger Goodell mentions

Super Bowl Opening Night — more commonly known as media day — is typically a fun event where reporters and other media members are able to ask questions to the players and coaches before the big game.

The Patriots and Falcons are facing off in Super Bowl LI this year, and the Patriots have a couple things — notable ties to President Donald Trump and the Deflategate controversy with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — that everyone naturally wanted to ask them about.

Tom Brady was seen with a “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker in 2015, and head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft have made it known that they both have friendships with Trump.

On Monday night, questions were posed to all three about Trump, yet when the NFL posted transcripts of the interviews online, there were almost no references to either Trump or Goodell.

The word “Trump” doesn’t appear at all and “Goodell” appears just once. Brady was asked three times about Trump, and four times about Goodell. Each time, he deflected.

“I’m not talking politics at all,” Brady said, via the New York Times, after being asked about his relationship with Trump. He added, “I just want to focus on the positive aspects of this game and my teammates and the reasons why we’re here.”

When he was asked about Trump, Belichick said, “I’m focused on our team and for getting ready for Sunday.”

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu was asked a few questions about the travel ban issued by Trump, which was included in the transcripts.

Sanu said, “It’s a very tough situation and I just pray that us as a country and a world can be united as one. It’s really hard for me to talk about this right now. It would take a lot of time so I just want to focus on the game and focus on football.”

One of the questions a reporter asked was if Sanu was worried about his mother traveling from Sierra Leone, but it was not posted in the transcript.

NFL Vice President of Communications Brian McCarthy told the New York Times that the transcripts are not supposed to be a complete account of the interviews, but rather a highlight of the dialogue.

This isn’t the first time that the NFL has cleaned up their transcripts for the Super Bowl. For Super Bowl XLIX, Richard Sherman’s answers regarding Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case weren’t included.