Kraft’s angry words provide temporary catharsis, but nothing will change for Patriots
COMMENTARY
When Robert Kraft stepped to the podium Wednesday morning at Gillette Stadium and spit 730 words, give or take a pronoun, of Roger Goodell-blistering fire, one could imagine Patriots fans letting out their biggest collective cheer since Malcolm Butler jumped a certain pass route in Arizona.
The Patriots owner’s opening act at coach Bill Belichick’s anticipated first press conference of training camp was unexpected if not quite impromptu. The Patriots’ inner circle knew this was coming even if we didn’t. The genuine surprise was not that he showed up, but what he said and his passion in how said it.
A day after Goodell upheld Brady’s four-game suspension, proclaiming that the Patriots quarterback “participated in a scheme to tamper’’ with footballs before the AFC Championship Game in January, Kraft ran a reverse on his locally panned decision in May to not engage the NFL in battle over the consequences of the absurd original punishment, which included the loss of a first- and fourth-round draft picks and a $1 million fine.
He apologized to Patriots fans for dropping his musket and retreating from a potential battle in May. Then he reiterated flaws in the NFL’s reasoning and conclusions that so many in Kraft’s franchise’s fanbase have been shouting for months:
This was not about getting it right. It was about the NFL wanting to look like it got it right, even if it meant shaping the narrative to fit already drawn conclusions.
“For reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed,’’ said Kraft, who apologized to the fans six sentences into his statement.
“I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football. …
“I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took, the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.’’
It was cathartic to hear Kraft say such things. Overdue, too. He was pointed and specific. He noted that an erroneous report by ESPN regarding the inflation levels of footballs in the AFC Championship game, a report that helped turn a spark into a firestorm, was never debunked by the league. He accused the league of emphasizing Brady’s “destroyed’’ cell phone to distract from the inconclusive findings of the Wells Report.
Sure, the points were hardly new. But listening as Kraft, who has long been one of Goodell’s chief confidantes among the NFL’s 32 owners sound so sincerely angry as he aimed his scorn at the commissioner gave those familiar arguments new heft.
The problem — and this is a real, lingering problem — is that they are just words, not solutions or retributions.
The satisfaction that came from watching Kraft put the league on blast was fun but fleeting, because in the end the story will remain the same.
His sound and fury signified … well, not nothing, but something worthy of just a small shred of optimism. Yeah, Kraft was bold, and Patriots fans needed to hear them from an owner whose image took a hit when he gave up the fight in May. And he needed to deliver them, to remind his coach, his quarterback, and the paying customers know that his loyalty belongs to the team residing in Gillette Stadium and not his billionaire boys club of 32 NFL owners.
But those other 31 owners have to be thrilled by Goodell’s ruling – especially those whose teams will play the Patriots during the 25 percent of the season when Brady is suspended (presuming the length of the ban is not reduced in court). And 31 against 1 is a mismatch every single time, no matter the venue or the game.
Kraft has always been a powerful and staunch supporter of Goodell’s, sometimes to the point that he has looked foolish on the commissioner’s behalf. In September, when the videotape of Ray Rice punching out his fiancée in an elevator surfaced, making Goodell’s original two-game ban of the Ravens running back look shamefully lenient, Kraft went on CBS This Morning and praised the adjustments the commissioner implemented in the aftermath to the league’s domestic violence policy.
“The way he’s handled this situation himself, coming out with the mea culpa and his statement a couple of weeks ago or 10 days ago and setting a very clear policy of how we conduct ourselves in the NFL I thought was excellent,’’ Kraft said then. “Anyone who’s second-guessing that doesn’t know him.’’
Even if Kraft pulls his support of Goodell permanently, the commissioner’s appeasement of other powerful owners can only aid his long-term cause. I’m not sure, as Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel smartly posits, that the naïve Patriots were outwitted by Goodell in the battle for public perception, outmaneuvered in a board game they didn’t even know they were playing.
But the harsh reality is that no matter what the Patriots and NFL really know about what happened to those footballs that January night, the vast majority of football fans nationwide will always believe Tom Brady “destroyed’’ his phone because he was hiding something. Goodell often seems a vacant suit of a commissioner. But his public relations manipulations have been on point in this case. It’s possible Goodell no longer needs Kraft anymore.
As mad as Kraft appears to be, it’s difficult to fathom any scenario – even this ridiculous one that’s been in progress since January – that will lead him to chronic and counterproductive feuds with the league. He’s not about to become an owner/outlaw, slapping an eyepatch on the Flying Elvis logo and morphing into the modern-day Al Davis. All he can do is shake his fist in public – then cross his fingers privately in the hope that a federal judge comes down on Brady’s side. The Patriots rarely have had to count on a Hail Mary in the Brady/Belichick era, but here we are.
In one more weird twist, the most appealing words Wednesday didn’t come from Kraft, but from the man who followed to the podium. In parrying questions regarding Brady and the slightly deflated footballs in his usual grumbling and efficient way, Belichick offered a variation fo the same sentence time and again. “Right now we’re focused on getting the team ready for the 2015 season,’’ he said.
In world that currently feels like lawyers will soon be appearing on football cards, here’s to the day when the 2015 season is everyone else’s focus as well.
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