Tom Brady’s resolve earns another win…but where is Robert Kraft’s?
COMMENTARY
Now, about those draft picks…
As we sift through the winners and losers from the latest fallout concerning Deflategate, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sit on polar opposites of the spectrum. After Judge Richard M. Berman wiped out Brady’s four-game suspension Thursday with a thorough undressing of the commissioner and the NFL, he’s obviously turned out to be a winner, at least in New England, where Patriots fans vigorously celebrated the return of the future Hall of Famer, finally cleared to play in next week’s season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 2015 New England Patriots are undoubted victors in the eight-month charade, equipped with their defending Super Bowl MVP quarterback and a chip on the team’s collective shoulder.
But beyond that? It’s not like the Patriots are ultimately screwed beyond this upcoming season, but owner Bob Kraft has still put his franchise in a somewhat precarious position.
There has been no indication that the Krafts intend to try and recoup the $1 million fine and pair of draft picks (a first and a fourth-rounder) that the Patriots surrendered to the NFL in a sheepish about-face in the months after Kraft demanded an apology and the team countered the Wells Report with its own contextual argument which also, frankly, left much to be desired.
Within days of The Wells Report in Context’s release though, Kraft stood at the podium at the owners’ meetings in San Francisco and kowtowed to the the desires, demands, and possibly even the threats of his good buddy Goodell, throwing up the white flag and accepting the sanctions.
“I think you all heard how strongly we felt about it and a public apology to the fans for what had gone on,’’ Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft said on Thursday’s pregame show on 98.5 he Sports Hub. “Robert’s a man of his word and we’re part of a partnership. I would never say never to anything, but as we sit here today, it’s not our intention (to fight the league).’’
Never say never, but you might as well go ahead and say it seems to be the message.
Even in the statement he made on Thursday in the wake of Berman’s vacation of the suspension, Bob Kraft made sure to accuse the “lawyers at the league’’ who “still insisted on imposing and defending unwarranted and unprecedented discipline.’’
Kraft admitted back in July, the day after Goodell upheld Brady’s four-game suspension, that he surrendered in the hope of good faith that paying the price would help exonerate Brady. So much for that.
But now that Brady has won and made Goodell and the NFL look incompetent in the process, why wouldn’t the Patriots attempt to do the same?
I’m sure Bill Belichick is thrilled that he won’t have to go the first-quarter of the season with Jimmy Garoppolo leading the charge, but once the confetti falls in San Francisco come February, the Patriots coach also faces the daunting task of getting his team younger without a first-round draft pick. Why, exactly, is that again other than the transparent fact that the owner and commissioner still rub each other’s back even after Goodell duplicitously attempted to bring down his pal’s most important employee?
Kraft’s abdication didn’t play well with Patriot fans back in May, and it certainly shouldn’t look any better now, even through the prism of Brady celebration. But it’s become clear, despite all the bluster he displayed publicly, Kraft is still endeared to Goodell, the guy the Pats owner has always been there for, including supporting him after bungling the Ray Rice situation. Even now, after all Goodell has done to the New England Patriots, there’s Kraft like a puppy dog lapping up to its owner, albeit now with a shifty eye of suspicion. Finally.
Berman’s ruling should give the Patriots even more reason to fight the NFL. In his 40-page decision, the federal judge made a mockery of the NFL’s declaration of “independence’’ in the Wells Report (sorry, the “Pash/Wells Report’’), and skewered Goodell for what he classified as the commissioner’s “industrial justice.’’ Ouch.
Yet despite the embarrassing outcome, the knocked-down league has decided it wants more and announced that it intends to appeal the decision for, you guessed it, the “integrity’’ of the league.
There’s a certain sense of stubbornness on the part of the NFL not to let Deflategate go. There’s also a definitive ineptitude that the Patriots should take note of and pounce on.
Isn’t it worth, at the very least, a first-round pick?
“I have often said, ‘If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room,’’’ Kraft said in July. “I had hopes that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.
“Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and [to] Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league.
“Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.’’
Strong words. Unfortunately there’s yet to be a fight that accompanies them.
Brady’s vindication is good news for the Patriots. But the team is still going to pay for Deflategate in a debilitating way. Guilty or not.
Their quarterback displayed his resolve in ultimately winning his appeal.
We haven’t seen the same from his employer.
What celebrities have said about Deflategate
[bdc-gallery id=”108852″]
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com