Ed Hillel said:I understand why he did what he did, but the statement slobbering over Goodell was an absolute joke.
Do you not understand that Bob is the Owner...Jonathan is his son who will be lucky to be bequeathed the team? Jonathan cannot do shit even if he was inclined to...other than to seethe.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Being a good soldier for the league has gotten the team nothing but a screwjob from the league.
If Kraft puts the NFL over the Pats then he needs to be forcibly retired by Jonathan. He's letting the team have their next 3 seasons irreparably damaged and is getting nothing in return. Shameful.
Ed Hillel said:
Explain how that could have been changed.
I would argue that his refusal today to stand up to a power-mad douchebag commish intent on destroying his team is evidence that Kraft is no longer an important owner.DrewDawg said:
They get boned anyway.
If he wants to continue being an important owner, he can't set the precedent of circumventing the bylaws.
I think Kraft is in a "I'm to old for this crap" and just wants to enjoy his life and not spend the rest of it in court. He's moving on.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:In his prime Al Davis would have taken this to court and won easily.
Spelunker said:I never thought I'd say this...but fuck you, Bob.
And Jonathan will end up lying in his own blood at a toll plaza ...Being a good soldier for the league has gotten the team nothing but a screwjob from the league.
If Kraft puts the NFL over the Pats then he needs to be forcibly retired by Jonathan. He's letting the team have their next 3 seasons irreparably damaged and is getting nothing in return. Shameful.
This makes no sense. Fandom and opinions are not package deals like a marriage. You're not less of a fan for being eternally grateful for how Kraft has brought this team out of the gutter then thinking he sold out his "family" (his word, not mine) in this instance. This is as stupid as saying people opposed to the Iraq War didn't love America. SoSH is better than illogical broad brush ztrokes like this.Number45forever said:Everyone should calm the fuck down with not liking how Kraft handles this. The man is and will forever be a God for saving football in New England. Fuck this entire saga and the NFL and Goodell, leave Kraft out of it.
SeoulSoxFan said:
This may be true, but that did not need Kraft crumbling to make that happen.
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:My guess is that this was a much harder thing for Kraft to do than most here can even imagine.
That's fine, but if so then he should cede full control of team operations to someone else.ifmanis5 said:I think Kraft is in a "I'm to old for this crap" and just wants to enjoy his life and not spend the rest of it in court. He's moving on.
I hope that was their tacit deal, only to have Goodell double-cross Kraft one more time. Kraft would deserve it and Brady will likely to get the suspension eliminated when he takes the NFL to court.bankshot1 said:That was a let down.
I only hope this means RG lets Brady walk.
soxhop411 said:
Mike 'Sarge' Riley @Sarge985 4s4 seconds ago
Sports books going crazy RT @MikeBillings16: -500 Brady plays opening night.
tims4wins said:Full statement
Thanks for posting didn't get to hear the specifics. I don't necessarily mind folding because the team's legal options are very limited, but the rhetoric cop out particularly bones Pats fans and Brady.tims4wins said:Full statement
Very well put. A war of attrition vs the NFL will ultimately hit him in the wallet as well. I do sincerely hope that Brady's suspension either goes away or is substantially reduced. To me that was the only real gain of Kraft being defiant. Maybe Kraft is confident enough in that part of the process succeeding to stand down today, or he and the Commish bartered for it.TheoShmeo said:I get the Pats not fighting this. Limited options.
I don't get not saying that he understands and respects that Tom might be in a different position, and that Tom has his full support.
PS: And BS on the admission of guilt. If you don't believe you are going to win, fighting just to fight is pointless. I head no words of admission in what he said. I heard that he's part of a club, the club has rules, one of the rules allows the Commish to decide, he doesn't like the decision, but club rules are club rules, and it's time to move on. Nothing in that is an admission.
dcmissle said:And Jonathan will end up lying in his own blood at a toll plaza ...
You fight this through TB. You're not getting the draft picks back, but you weren't getting them back anyway, and especially after the manifesto.
If Goodell were smart, he'd don shin pads and pull the TB suspension and bury this now.
steveluck7 said:The deal must be in place for Roger to drop the Brady suspension. The 2 extreme punishments were the suspension and the 1st rounder. Roger "wins" one of those and the Patriots (technically, Brady) "win" the other.
Goodell likely gets called out a bit for reducing the suspension but he is spared embarrasment of having a court tell him he has to, and he gets the public backing from Kraft.
I disagree. In fact, I think the league is going to be very reluctant coming down on the Patriots in the future unless and until they have legitimate hard core proof of something materially illegal. Of course, that assumes that Goodell actually learns something from this....which is a massive assumption on my part.Salem's Lot said:Now every team in the league knows they can trump up bullshit charges against the Patriots, the league office will drop the hammer based on public sentiment, and the owner will just bend over and take it. If I was Belichick, I'd retire. Making money with his 31 "partners" is obviously more important to Kraft then his fan base or winning championships.
Salem's Lot said:Now every team in the league knows they can trump up bullshit charges against the Patriots, the league office will drop the hammer based on public sentiment, and the owner will just bend over and take it. If I was Belichick, I'd retire. Making money with his 31 "partners" is obviously more important to Kraft then his fan base or winning championships.
ivanvamp said:So the NFL leaked false information to Mortensen which set up this whole narrative. Either an NFL employee lied to Mortensen in order to create the narrative, or it was an honest mistake. If it was the former, then the NFL was involved in slandering the Patriots. If it was the latter, the NFL had the chance right away to correct Mortensen's tweet with the correct information, but they chose not to. That's almost as bad.
So the narrative is set. Millions are spent on a witch hunt. Which, of course, produces NOTHING, but because the starting assumption is guilt, that's what the final conclusion is.
Ok, I get that they hate the Patriots and have no problem with that. But I want other fans to ask themselves how they'd feel if this was *their* team. Their team set up like this.
It depends on how many quaalude vodka s Irsay downs before he thinks something up.Salem's Lot said:So what trumped up bullshit will the Patriots get fucked over for next time? They might never pick in the first round again.
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:My guess is that this was a much harder thing for Kraft to do than most here can even imagine.
I am not happy with his decision. Then again, maybe he knows something we don't and knows he was bringing a knife to a gun fight, which doesn't ever make this better but only makes it worse.
Talking about losing respect for Kraft? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect a guy who can face a host of shitty options and make a judgment that he thinks is the least bad.
Saying that he put money above the team, or the league above the team does not resonate with me. He is taking a shitty situation, playing the ball as it lies, and deciding what he thinks is the best course of action in the long run.
The NFL in its current incarnation is set up so that it can crush any player or any team if it wants to, and it can appeal to the media and fan's desire for red blood in doing so making it teflon. That's is the bottom line, and it's always been the bottom line. Kraft is hoisted on the petard that he is 1/32 responsible for setting up. Maybe this will lead to reform. But that's the sad, irony of the situation, and he's faced down more people in difficult negotiations in his life than any of us likely will.
He was never going to get 24 votes to dismiss the Artless Roger. However, when his contract comes up for renewal, take the under on the number of owners voting to renew. Because there is a 100% chance that Goodell will stab Kraft in the back again between now and then.GregHarris said:His option would be to gain enough support with the other owners to be able to remove Goodell. As was mentioned, support was trending away.
Exactly.ivanvamp said:
The upshot of accepting this penalty (or if they had sued and lost, thus the penalties staying in place) is that the next time the Patriots commit any tiny wrongdoing (like 0.5 psi isn't enough of a tiny wrongdoing, even if they did it) they will be THIRD time offenders. So Goodell could simply hit them with, what, a $2 million team fine, and the loss of two first round picks? And what, then, can Kraft do about that?
Based on everything we know about BB Id guess he hates Goodell with the fire of 1000 suns, knows he's a clown, thinks this is beyond bullshit, hates losing the 1st rounder more than the money he paid for spygate, and wants all this bullshit well over and done with by week 1 at all costs.jablo1312 said:I'm dying to know what Belichick, who hates league politics as much as anybody, thinks of all this. Just another reason we NEED that post-career memoir.
ivanvamp said:So the NFL leaked false information to Mortensen which set up this whole narrative. Either an NFL employee lied to Mortensen in order to create the narrative, or it was an honest mistake. If it was the former, then the NFL was involved in slandering the Patriots. If it was the latter, the NFL had the chance right away to correct Mortensen's tweet with the correct information, but they chose not to. That's almost as bad.
So the narrative is set. Millions are spent on a witch hunt. Which, of course, produces NOTHING, but because the starting assumption is guilt, that's what the final conclusion is.
The largest penalty in league history is meted out for something that isn't even CLOSE to having been proven to have happened. But because the NFL bylaws are what they are, there's literally nothing the Patriots can do about it short of total war, Al Davis style. And even then it might not change anything. Even if Goodell issued a 20 draft pick penalty there's nothing the Patriots could have done.
And other fans are happy about this.
I ask why.
The answer is, of course: The Patriots. Cheaters. They are getting what they deserve.
Ok, I get that they hate the Patriots and have no problem with that. But I want other fans to ask themselves how they'd feel if this was *their* team. Their team set up like this. Their team given this kind of unprecedented penalty completely out of whack with NFL norms. Their team dragged through the mud on this. Imagine Jets fans if the NFL issued this penalty for tampering with Revis. Or SD fans if the NFL issued this penalty for using the stickum towel.
What they should be concerned about is the process which allows Goodell to do basically whatever the hell he wants, with no recourse. I don't mind if they rejoice because they hate the Patriots. But this penalty is neither right nor just nor moral. It appeals to people because they hate the Patriots. They should be very, VERY worried that this is how the process works.
Bleedred said:I disagree. In fact, I think the league is going to be very reluctant coming down on the Patriots in the future unless and until they have legitimate hard corps proof of something materially illegal. Of course, that assumes that Goodell actually learns something from this....which is a massive assumption on my part.
Salem's Lot said:Now every team in the league knows they can trump up bullshit charges against the Patriots, the league office will drop the hammer based on public sentiment, and the owner will just bend over and take it. If I was Belichick, I'd retire. Making money with his 31 "partners" is obviously more important to Kraft then his fan base or winning championships.