Robert Kraft talks to Peter King

[Ring 6]

"There was no dispute about the facts. The team admittedly said what happened ... It was illegal to videotape and in the end we admitted it and took our penance. This is very different. In 2007, we did something and acknowledged the fact of what was done. This is an accusation of wrongdoing, without proof."

He can't not do something after comments like that.

Think everything is just in wait and see to after goodell passes on the judgement we all already know he's gonna do.

Bob is wrong here, it IS legal to videotape, but not from the location they did it.

 

[Ring 6]

The new favorite media 'proof' was laid out by Greenberg this morning.
What Kraft says is like the league was out to get them. Why would the league want to get Tom Brady?
So now Brady is guilty because I've run out of evidence so the only way to say he is guilty is throw aside the fact that he was convicted without evidence and say I'm sure they didn't want to convict him.
Remarkable.

 

[Sicilian]

The new favorite media 'proof' was laid out by Greenberg this morning.
What Kraft says is like the league was out to get them. Why would the league want to get Tom Brady?
So now Brady is guilty because I've run out of evidence so the only way to say he is guilty is throw aside the fact that he was convicted without evidence and say I'm sure they didn't want to convict him.
Remarkable.

To Greenburg I say, it's just simple math. If 31/32 NFL fanbases dislike the Patriots, and the Patriots keep winning, 31/32 NFL fanbases will lose some interest. The NFL wants parity, and they will cripple the best team if they get the opportunity.

 

[Rob0729]

In response to this argument, douchebag Breer tweeted this:

One problem for Kraft and the Patriots -- they signed off on Ted Wells and the investigation in January. It's not like Wells was an unknown.

https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/600287265764593665

I've heard this argument a lot and my response is "Who gives a f**k?!?".

Yes, Kraft and the Patriots and much of their fans were naive enough to think Wells would do an unbiased investigation and didn't come into this with a predetermined point of view that the Pats were guilty and working backwards from that assumption. Doesn't change the fact that, as Kraft pointed out, Wells' report was completely biased and slanted to make the Pats look guilty when there was no evidence.

Hell, I will take it one step further. Let's say Kraft knew that Wells was going to come in as a prosecutor. Doesn't that bolster the Pats' claim of innocence? If Kraft and the rest of the Patriots knew that Wells was not going to stop until he was going to find something on the Pats, wouldn't the Pats only sign off on Wells if they thought they had nothing to hide?

 

[Ring 6]

In response to this argument, douchebag Breer tweeted this:



https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/600287265764593665

I've heard this argument a lot and my response is "Who gives a f**k?!?".

Yes, Kraft and the Patriots and much of their fans were naive enough to think Wells would do an unbiased investigation and didn't come into this with a predetermined point of view that the Pats were guilty and working backwards from that assumption. Doesn't change the fact that, as Kraft pointed out, Wells' report was completely biased and slanted to make the Pats look guilty when there was no evidence.

Hell, I will take it one step further. Let's say Kraft knew that Wells was going to come in as a prosecutor. Doesn't that bolster the Pats' claim of innocence? If Kraft and the rest of the Patriots knew that Wells was not going to stop until he was going to find something on the Pats, wouldn't the Pats only sign off on Wells if they thought they had nothing to hide?

Accepting someone as investigator does not condone them doing a poor job.
I guess Breer wanted Kraft to transport into the future, see that Wells was doing a poor job, and then go back and ask for someone else.

By the way, Florio presented in a way that leaves the conspiracy theory and Patriot hate out, and says Wells honestly decided early on that the Patriots were guilty and went about arranging the evidence to support his certainty, but he was wrong mostly because he didn't understand that science.

 

[Rob0729]

The new favorite media 'proof' was laid out by Greenberg this morning.
What Kraft says is like the league was out to get them. Why would the league want to get Tom Brady?
So now Brady is guilty because I've run out of evidence so the only way to say he is guilty is throw aside the fact that he was convicted without evidence and say I'm sure they didn't want to convict him.
Remarkable.

I firmly believe that Goodell never wanted this to happen and it was his underlings who did this. But once this became a major national story, Goodell needed a fall guy and a rouge ball boy wasn't going to cut it. It had to I am sure he would have much rather gotten Belichick, but all he could get was Brady.

For Goodell, making Brady the fall guy is better for him than spending $5 million and four months and not have any proof of anything or even worse showing that people working for him worked to set up the Patriots and then smear their names afterwards. This was easily the best case scenario especially after he looked like a hero for seriously over penalizing the Patriots and Brady.

 

[NashuaPats]

The new favorite media 'proof' was laid out by Greenberg this morning.
What Kraft says is like the league was out to get them. Why would the league want to get Tom Brady?
So now Brady is guilty because I've run out of evidence so the only way to say he is guilty is throw aside the fact that he was convicted without evidence and say I'm sure they didn't want to convict him.
Remarkable.

I caught about 10 seconds of Mike and Mike before having to turn it off. I heard Greenberg say something like "Kraft's belief in the ideal gas theory..." I turned it off immediately. There's no believing or not believing in the ideal gas law. It's as real as gravity. These sports writers/analysts seem intent on lowering the IQs of their readers and listeners.

 

[reflexblue]

Seems to be the fruit if "lessons learned" from "Spygate".. Mr. Kraft rolled over then, and will not let it happen again..

Kraft really believes in the veracity of Brady's story and is tired of the shenanigans of Goodell... it is not in character for him to go this far out on the limb..

Here he sounds like a poster from Pats Fans.com...

I don't know if this has been posted already. i was listening to NFL radio this morning, kraft asked brady straight up if he did anything or knew anything, because if he did the club would just admit it and take the punishment. Brady told kraft unequivocally NO, he wasn't involved in any way. So it looks like kraft is going to go all in on defending his qb and the team. To which i say... sick um Bob. In the beginning of all this i didn't think bob kraft had it in him to do this, i was wrong. And i apologize to him for writing some pretty nasty posts about him rolling over and taking it.

 

[Rob0729]

Accepting someone as investigator does not condone them doing a poor job.
I guess Breer wanted Kraft to transport into the future, see that Wells was doing a poor job, and then go back and ask for someone else.

By the way, Florio presented in a way that leaves the conspiracy theory and Patriot hate out, and says Wells honestly decided early on that the Patriots were guilty and went about arranging the evidence to support his certainty, but he was wrong mostly because he didn't understand that science.

Not understanding the science is one thing, manipulating it is another. Even Florio points that out that Wells has no legitimate explanation that he chose to believe Walt Anderson's memory on everything including the PSI of the 24 game balls and disregard Anderson's best recollection of which gauge he used to pump up 24 game balls, 22 back ups, and 12 kicking balls other than the gauge he remember using was giving higher readings for the Patriots balls (and sub 12.5 PSI readings for the Colts' balls) that would all the ideal gas law to explain the loss of PSI in the Patriots footballs.

 

[Rob0729]

I caught about 10 seconds of Mike and Mike before having to turn it off. I heard Greenberg say something like "Kraft's belief in the ideal gas theory..." I turned it off immediately. There's no believing or not believing in the ideal gas law. It's as real as gravity. These sports writers/analysts seem intent on lowering the IQs of their readers and listeners.

Not only is it a real law, but if you believe Walt Anderson's "best recollection" of which gauge he used to measure the balls, the Wells report (more importantly Exponent's report) supports the argument that the balls were deflated by the ideal gas law. That is why Wells and Exponent decided that he used the other gauge.

 

[Ring 6]

I firmly believe that Goodell never wanted this to happen and it was his underlings who did this. But once this became a major national story, Goodell needed a fall guy and a rouge ball boy wasn't going to cut it. It had to I am sure he would have much rather gotten Belichick, but all he could get was Brady.

For Goodell, making Brady the fall guy is better for him than spending $5 million and four months and not have any proof of anything or even worse showing that people working for him worked to set up the Patriots and then smear their names afterwards. This was easily the best case scenario especially after he looked like a hero for seriously over penalizing the Patriots and Brady.

I think that Brady is the perfect fall guy. He looks very different than the other players Goodell has suspended. Being tough on Brady makes it seem like he is just out to get anyone he can. The racial aspect of Rice, Peterson and Hardy is something you cannot ignore.

I disagree though that Goodell is responsible or accountable for Wells work. He hired him, he announced it was independent and he was letting Wells do whatever he wants. To come back and say Wells did a poor job is the truth, not something that makes Goodell look bad.
The PR hit of saying we hired the guy but don't agree with his report would be minor because it would be in the vein of getting it right. Are you assuming this would include admitting he was not independent, because I don't agree, I actually think it would show the opposite.
As far as 5 mill that is nothing to the NFL. They could chop it off his bonus.

 

[Koma]

The new favorite media 'proof' was laid out by Greenberg this morning.
What Kraft says is like the league was out to get them. Why would the league want to get Tom Brady?
So now Brady is guilty because I've run out of evidence so the only way to say he is guilty is throw aside the fact that he was convicted without evidence and say I'm sure they didn't want to convict him.
Remarkable.

The problem with Greenberg's argument is that he thinks it's up to the Patriots to answer those questions or that they are so absurd, they shouldn't be considered.

We know that the league sent false PSI information to the team. We know that the league leaked false information to Mortensen. We know that Wells ignored, marginalized, or twisted any evidence that was favorable to the Patriots. All of these thing happened. It's up to the league to explain why they were out to get Brady and the Patriots.

 

[Mark.]

I caught about 10 seconds of Mike and Mike before having to turn it off. I heard Greenberg say something like "Kraft's belief in the ideal gas theory..." I turned it off immediately. There's no believing or not believing in the ideal gas law. It's as real as gravity. These sports writers/analysts seem intent on lowering the IQs of their readers and listeners.

I lasted about 30 seconds while Herm Edwards was on. They were saying the Patriots should have only had one spokesperson and said nothing and let the investigation play out. It is like the media is mad because the Patriots didnt just lay down and are fighting back. How dare they question the integrity of BSPN and all the crap they have been slinging for 4 months?

 

[Rob0729]

I think that Brady is the perfect fall guy. He looks very different than the other players Goodell has suspended. Being tough on Brady makes it seem like he is just out to get anyone he can. The racial aspect of Rice, Peterson and Hardy is something you cannot ignore.

I disagree though that Goodell is responsible or accountable for Wells work. He hired him, he announced it was independent and he was letting Wells do whatever he wants. To come back and say Wells did a poor job is the truth, not something that makes Goodell look bad.
The PR hit of saying we hired the guy but don't agree with his report would be minor because it would be in the vein of getting it right. Are you assuming this would include admitting he was not independent, because I don't agree, I actually think it would show the opposite.
As far as 5 mill that is nothing to the NFL. They could chop it off his bonus.

Goodell is 100% accountable for Wells especially if you believe he gave a biased report with false facts. Maybe if sued Wells for doing it, he could skate for admitting that. But the Wells report is 100% on him and Troy Vincent's decision is too.

It doesn't matter there is zero chance of him reversing his decision without making a back room deal where the Pats and Brady take some responsibility for deflating the footballs. Which is unlikely to happen.

The punishments came from Goodell. He "handed" it off to Troy Vincent so that he could hear the appeals himself and uphold the crappy evidence from the Wells report.

 

[Ross12]

Man, these owner meetings are gonna be interesting. I think it's correct that owners will be coming to him trying to find out the deal and maybe negotiate... which is surely a position Kraft is suited to be in.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Man, these owner meetings are gonna be interesting. I think it's correct that owners will be coming to him trying to find out the deal and maybe negotiate... which is surely a position Kraft is suited to be in.

Negotiate in way? What is there to negotiate?

 

[Haley]

Man, these owner meetings are gonna be interesting. I think it's correct that owners will be coming to him trying to find out the deal and maybe negotiate... which is surely a position Kraft is suited to be in.

The only thing about negotiation is it involves compromise. I hate to see us compromise here. I doubt I'd be happy with that.

 

[Ring 6]

Not understanding the science is one thing, manipulating it is another. Even Florio points that out that Wells has no legitimate explanation that he chose to believe Walt Anderson's memory on everything including the PSI of the 24 game balls and disregard Anderson's best recollection of which gauge he used to pump up 24 game balls, 22 back ups, and 12 kicking balls other than the gauge he remember using was giving higher readings for the Patriots balls (and sub 12.5 PSI readings for the Colts' balls) that would all the ideal gas law to explain the loss of PSI in the Patriots footballs.

I don't think he had the science when he interviewed Anderson. Without knowing the IGL impact, they look guilty.
My point is that you don't need to include a conspiratorial paranoid Wells and Goodell and the whole league was out to get us in order to show where it went wrong. Wells simply could have jumped to a conclusion and been too arrogant to see that he had to twist all the pieces too far to make it fit.

 

[Ring 6]

Goodell is 100% accountable for Wells especially if you believe he gave a biased report with false facts. Maybe if sued Wells for doing it, he could skate for admitting that. But the Wells report is 100% on him and Troy Vincent's decision is too.

It doesn't matter there is zero chance of him reversing his decision without making a back room deal where the Pats and Brady take some responsibility for deflating the footballs. Which is unlikely to happen.

The punishments came from Goodell. He "handed" it off to Troy Vincent so that he could hear the appeals himself and uphold the crappy evidence from the Wells report.

Again we disagree.
I don't understand how selecting an investigator makes you accountable that he reaches a good conclusion. Believing it when it is wrong is much worse than challenging it.
Given the Wells report, without the Patriots bringing to light everything that is missing or wrong, accepting the conclusion is not farfetched.

They are having an appeal hearing. Wells has laid out his investigation and Brady (and later Kraft) will lay out theirs. To suggest that Goodell is painted into a corner and cannot find that Wells did a poor job just makes no sense.

 

[Ring 6]

The only thing about negotiation is it involves compromise. I hate to see us compromise here. I doubt I'd be happy with that.

There is no compromise short of total exoneration that Brady will accept.
Kraft should not either but might just to keep the peace.