Jonathan Kraft: The Smilin' Assassin

[SeoulSoxFan]

Jonathan Kraft is a bad man. He's not afraid to speak out. But not in a dumb, uninformed way, but in a cold, calculated way. 
 

@GregABedard Lol. Jonathan Kraft said Patriots were going to unfurl a Brady banner if he was suspended for opener.
 


@MarkDanielsPJ Kraft said they took down the 16-0 banner. "We might send it to Don Shula. That was a joke... That was a joke and I'm smiling."

 
The last line is a zinger. Globe had an article about him recently and had this paragraph:
 
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/02/01/kraft/aqGBtdrqDWbacvpa1YCjKO/story.html
 

He may lack some of his father’s charisma and taste for celebrity. His temper may run hotter, as those he has verbally accosted over perceived slights have discovered. And he has yet to embrace the virtues of forgiveness: He remains highly contemptuous of the politicians and pundits he believes have wronged him in the past 20 years.

 
Unlike the Great Negotiator that his father was -- and still is, to the disappointment of some fans -- JK seems to hold grudges and has a mean streak in him. 
 
I'm looking forward to the JK Era when Robert retires. 

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Thank god the 16-0 banner is gone.

 

[soxhop411]

“@BenVolin: Jon Kraft was doing a business deal when the Brady news broke. ”I yelled out an expletive and then I told the people on the phone goodbye“”


This made me laugh.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

He's a hell of a lot better than Hal and Hank. 

 

[Otis Foster]

"Unlike the Great Negotiator that his father was -- and still is, to the disappointment of some fans -- JK seems to hold grudges and has a mean streak in him. "

Bob was basically a schmoozer, arm around you, lining up a golf game, pat on the butt.

A bit different now, but he still retains many of those traits. That's why he was gamed by RG. He relied too much on the old nudge, nudge/wink, wink.

Jonathan is a prick with an elephant's memory.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Right now the Pats need a mean, ornery sumbitch on their side to tell the NFL, in many different ways, to go fuck itself.
 
Jonathan can be that sumbitch.

 

[cshea]

They should hang the Brady banner next Thursday too. Put it where the 16-0 one was.

 

[Leather]

They should hang the Brady banner next Thursday too. Put it where the 16-0 one was.

I think they have a different banner in mind.

 

[knucklebird]

Jonathan is the wartime consigliere we need now

 

[baruch20]

Right now the Pats need a mean, ornery sumbitch on their side to tell the NFL, in many different ways, to go fuck itself.
 
Jonathan can be that sumbitch.

He is the wartime consigliere Don Belichick needs in these times.  Bob is too Tom Hagen.

 

[Koufax]

In the pregame interview today he was asked about trying to get the draft picks back.  He said that his father was a man of his word.  But he did not absolutely shut the door on the possibility of going after them.

 

[Rough Carrigan]

It would have been better still if he'd said that they were going to give the banner to Shula but they wanted to try to do it via a time machine, sending it back to the field of the Orange Bowl the night before the 1982 AFC championship game against the much faster Jets team the Dolphins were going to play when Don Shula "forgot" to put a tarp over the field before a torrential downpour.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Totally tangental anecdote (and I guess humble brag, but thats not the intention) -

My dad, who worked for GE for 45 years, did a business deal with Jonathan about twenty years ago in 1995, I believe it revolved around cardboard boxes to ship meters in. At the end of the process, Jonathan asks dad if he has kids, dad says yes two boys and a girl and Jonathan responds with "are the boys football fans? I'd love to give you some tickets". Dad replies that GE policy is no gifts are allowed, but thank you very much for the offer. They shake hands and go their separate ways.

A couple weeks later we got an envelope mailed directly to the house with three tickets to sit in one of the owners boxes at the old stadium. There was no wink wink, Jonathan actually found out our address. This was the Monday night game against the Bills, the first Monday night game they had had in a long, long time.

Bob popped in to glad hand everyone, but Jonathan spent most of the game in the box with the group. Around halftime, he asked my brother and I if we would like to go down to the field. I was 15 at the time, my brother was 20. A PR girl took us down to the field and we got to stand on the sideline for a while and posed for a picture on the Pats sideline. I ripped up a handful of grass and took it home. It sits in a ziplock bag, dead and rotted somewhere in my parents' house.

A couple months after, we got a FedEx package. It had two copies of the photo and two footballs signed by the entire team, in those plastic football case things, along with a hand written note from Jonathan thanking us for supporting the team and for coming to the game as his guests.

To a 15 year old kid who absolutely idolized Drew Bledsoe (the number 11 is still involved in a lot of passwords and pins to this day) it was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced.

As far as I'm concerned, Jonathan Kraft is the love child of fucking Santa Claus and Willie Wonka. I wholeheartedly endorse the coming reign of Sonny Kraft.

 

[Myt1]

Did your dad get fired?

 

[Erik Hanson's Hook]

Totally tangental anecdote (and I guess humble brag, but thats not the intention) -

My dad, who worked for GE for 45 years, did a business deal with Jonathan about twenty years ago in 1995, I believe it revolved around cardboard boxes to ship meters in. At the end of the process, Jonathan asks dad if he has kids, dad says yes two boys and a girl and Jonathan responds with "are the boys football fans? I'd love to give you some tickets". Dad replies that GE policy is no gifts are allowed, but thank you very much for the offer. They shake hands and go their separate ways.

A couple weeks later we got an envelope mailed directly to the house with three tickets to sit in one of the owners boxes at the old stadium. There was no wink wink, Jonathan actually found out our address. This was the Monday night game against the Bills, the first Monday night game they had had in a long, long time.

Bob popped in to glad hand everyone, but Jonathan spent most of the game in the box with the group. Around halftime, he asked my brother and I if we would like to go down to the field. I was 15 at the time, my brother was 20. A PR girl took us down to the field and we got to stand on the sideline for a while and posed for a picture on the Pats sideline. I ripped up a handful of grass and took it home. It sits in a ziplock bag, dead and rotted somewhere in my parents' house.

A couple months after, we got a FedEx package. It had two copies of the photo and two footballs signed by the entire team, in those plastic football case things, along with a hand written note from Jonathan thanking us for supporting the team and for coming to the game as his guests.

To a 15 year old kid who absolutely idolized Drew Bledsoe (the number 11 is still involved in a lot of passwords and pins to this day) it was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced.

As far as I'm concerned, Jonathan Kraft is the love child of fucking Santa Claus and Willie Wonka. I wholeheartedly endorse the coming reign of Sonny Kraft.

 
This is a really cool story. Sounds like Sonny K has just the right mix of kindness to cohorts and heat-seeking missile vindictiveness towards enemies.
 
I'm in.
 
Edit: We're also the same age

 

[Bleedred]

 
This is a really cool story. Sounds like Sonny K has just the right mix of kindness to cohorts and heat-seeking missile vindictiveness towards enemies.
 
I'm in.
 
Edit: We're also the same age

That's an amazing story.  Literally the first one I've ever heard about Jonathan being that kind.  I have a number of touch points with Jonathan Kraft which are the exact opposite, but I won't kill the vibe here and now.  

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Did your dad get fired?

Haha, no, about eight or nine years later he got the golden handshake and an early retirement with full benefits until 70. Guess they never found out.

I'm sure plenty of people have stories about Jonathan being a dick, especially where business is concerned, but the guy did right in the small window I have on him. It can be both.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

That's an amazing story.  Literally the first one I've ever heard about Jonathan being that kind.  I have a number of touch points with Jonathan Kraft which are the exact opposite, but I won't kill the vibe here and now.  

Feel free, man. I personally tend to ride the extremes of ass hole and big hearted myself, so it doesn't shock me at all that he easily could have pissed people off at times and I certainly won't hold it against him. I certainly understand business has an edge and you don't get where he and his dad did without being able to flip a switch. Unless you tell me you saw him drowning orphans, there's not much you can relay that will change my opinion on him.

Edit: I'm also not blind to the fact his persona may have evolved over the last twenty years. Being the heir to the Patriots franchise twenty years ago didn't exactly prop oneself up as much as it has since the dynasty has begun. I'm sure his swinging dick has gotten bigger since. Either way, love the guy.

 

[OCST]

Did your dad get fired?

This made me laugh.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

It would have been better still if he'd said that they were going to give the banner to Shula but they wanted to try to do it via a time machine, sending it back to the field of the Orange Bowl the night before the 1982 AFC championship game against the much faster Jets team the Dolphins were going to play when Don Shula "forgot" to put a tarp over the field before a torrential downpour.

 
When Shula went from the Colts to the Dolphins in the early 70s, he violated his contract to do so and the Dolphins lost a pick to the Colts in compensation.
 
Shula should keep his fucking mouth shut when it comes to rules violations.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

That's an amazing story.  Literally the first one I've ever heard about Jonathan being that kind.  I have a number of touch points with Jonathan Kraft which are the exact opposite, but I won't kill the vibe here and now.  

 
I had an issue with season tickets back in 2004. The guy we share our tickets with (he owns them) never got the renewal in the mail and couldn't get it straightened out through the box office, so we got shut out of playoff tickets. I was talking to a guy I work with, who did some dealings with the Pats, about what happened and was bummed we couldn't go to the Divisional game against the Titans.
 
Without asking, he called up Jonathan left a message saying he needed to talk. Later that day we get free tickets, 2nd row 48 yard line behind the Patriots bench for the Divisional Game. Apparently Kraft said that sucked, not a good way to treat a long time season ticket holder. Pretty awesome. 

 

[AlNipper49]

If anyone thinks that Robert didn't get to where he's at by being a prick then I have some ice to sell you in Antartica.  
 
Dudes in their 30s and 40s mellow into people like Robert Kraft.

 

[finnVT]

So he didn't think a girl would want a ticket?

 

[Bleedred]

If anyone thinks that Robert didn't get to where he's at by being a prick then I have some ice to sell you in Antartica.  
 
Dudes in their 30s and 40s mellow into people like Robert Kraft.

I agree.  And I'm certainly prepared to believe that like everyone, Jonathan may have evolved over time.  My experience with him and his organization relates to his arrogance in areas of business which he knew very little about and yet his approach was more often than not "I'm Jonathan Kraft and this is how we do it" (not a direct quote, but a synopsis of his attitude).  I don't question his intelligence, and I think he does a nice job speaking on behalf of the organization whenever I hear him, but I know him to have been not just an asshole and a prick at times, but an ignorant and arrogant one.  I'm betting/hoping that's not as true anymore.  

 

[Hoya81]

In the pregame interview today he was asked about trying to get the draft picks back.  He said that his father was a man of his word.  But he did not absolutely shut the door on the possibility of going after them.

If at the end of the season the league releases PSI tracking that confirms pressure variance due to weather, they may make a PR push to get the picks back, but not go to court.

 

[soxfan121]

If anyone thinks that Robert didn't get to where he's at by being a prick then I have some ice to sell you in Antartica.  
 
Dudes in their 30s and 40s mellow into people like Robert Kraft.

 
I do love the outward fire of Jonathan, but this is spot on. Robert is going to wait for just the right moment before taking his revenge. Mistaking patience for reticence is mistake. 

 

[leftfieldlegacy]

If at the end of the season the league releases PSI tracking that confirms pressure variance due to weather, they may make a PR push to get the picks back, but not go to court.

 
Logistically, I don't think the NFL would even discuss this until the Brady / NFLPA appeal is completed and that would likely occur after the 2016 draft. 

 

[pappymojo]

So he didn't think a girl would want a ticket?

That was my take away as well.

 

[GregHarris]

I generally do not make it a habit to agree with Nip, but he's right about Bob.  Just check into his land acquisitions around ole Foxboro stadium.  Lots of cutthroat style deals there. 
 
He can be as much of a dick as the old man wants to be.  Kraft built a privately funded stadium and in my book he gets free beer for life.  Especially in light of all the other NFL teams trying to blackmail taxpayers for their own stadiums. 
 
edit:  removed "tried that here", I forgot that he wanted the S Boston location to be privately financed as well.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

So he didn't think a girl would want a ticket?

I have no idea, I don't have a stenographers report of the conversation I didn't witness twenty years ago. He very well could have offered and my dad told him she doesn't like football. Not sure what your point is.

 

[Reverend]

I have no idea, I don't have a stenographers report of the conversation I didn't witness twenty years ago. He very well could have offered and my dad told him she doesn't like football. Not sure what your point is.

His point was made in an attempt to make readers f this thread laugh, and I can safely report that he was successful.

 

[Reverend]

Unless the poster is female and I'm making unfounded assumptions about gender.

 

[staz]

I generally do not make it a habit to agree with Nip, but he's right about Bob.  Just check into his land acquisitions around ole Foxboro stadium.  Lots of cutthroat style deals there. 

 
The city of Hartford concurs.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

but I know him to have been not just an asshole and a prick at times, but an ignorant and arrogant one.

So you're saying he could be commissioner of the NFL?

 

[speedracer]

In the pregame interview today he was asked about trying to get the draft picks back.  He said that his father was a man of his word.  But he did not absolutely shut the door on the possibility of going after them.

 
Somehow I feel like Jonathan Kraft might not be the kind of person who wants to leave a precedent that you can trump up BS cheating charges against his team, get him to cough up a first-round draft pick, and suffer no repercussions.

 

[Leather]

If anyone thinks that Robert didn't get to where he's at by being a prick then I have some ice to sell you in Antartica.  
 
Dudes in their 30s and 40s mellow into people like Robert Kraft.

More than that, Jonathan Kraft has nothing to lose by playing bad cop. He's not the one that has to walk into owners meetings and put the money down.

I think Jonathan is playing a role, albeit very well, that he has the luxury/authorization to play.