Patriots have filed an amicus brief in support of Brady/NFLPA.

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

It’s like one mob boss pointing the finger at another mob boss that just so happens to be his brother, and telling the judge “You know what, your honor, I actually saw him do it.”

That has to make an impact on some of the 12

 

[BradyFTW!]

Honest question - what more do you think the Patriots could have done to help Brady?

The simple answer is appeal their punishment, even knowing that it wouldn't go anywhere. They also could've refused to suspend Jastremski and McNally, given their assertions that they did nothing wrong (I can sorta get why they did since they were hoping that it would factor into the team and Brady's punishment, but IMO they were foolish to expect Goodell to be in any way reasonable anywhere in the process).

Most importantly, I think Kraft should've publicly called for Goodell's head. The moment the Wells Report came out, it was abundantly clear that Goodell had it out for the Patriots and had no interest in acting reasonably. When the commissioner has made it that clear that he's intent on burying you, there's no reason at all to maintain even a shred of civility.

Would any of that have changed the punishment? Probably not, but as Manning showed, how you respond to this stuff shapes public opinion. Manning came out furiously denying everything and threatening to sue, and while nobody ever actually thought he would, I think that's one of the main reasons why that didn't end up being a bigger PR black eye than it was. Meanwhile, to this day we have people saying that Brady must be guilty because the organization admitted its guilt by suspending the ballboys and not appealing.

And while I respect and appreciate that the organization is going to bat for Brady now, they're doing what they should have done a year ago. Not to take away from the fact that they did do the right thing now. They're late to the game, but I'm glad to see that Kraft's support is (finally) more than empty words.

 

[lamafist]

Ill answer
Not having a press conference where you give your support to Goodell the other 31 and say you are not fighting this.
That might help

Except that was done specifically with Brady's interests in mind. At the owners' meeting it was made clear to Kraft just how much the "other 31" wanted his blood, so he figured why not forego the team's appeal, which clearly wasn't going to be given any consideration, and see if that would satisfy them enough so that they wouldn't pressure Goodell to reject Brady's appeal.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Just to defend Kraft vs those who think it's too late which it might be but this was something he wouldn't have considered until he exhausted all back door negotiating possible. Now that point may have still been last July or he could have been trying all year and finally just said F it.

I think something happened in that owners meeting to push Kraft to this point.

 

[fnordcircle]

1) Use their own appeal of the team punishment.

Has nothing to do with Brady.

2) Apply pressure in every possible way, both public and private, from the moment the punishments were announced until they were rescinded or the team was taken away. That means holding up meetings, quitting committees in dramatic fashion, public denouncements of Goodell and every complicit member of the FO at every opportunity. Outing of owners who are backing the punishments despite knowing the charges are BS. Denial of hugs and handshakes. Threats to expose every damaging secret he knows about the inner workings of the league. Everything.

Wellsreportincontext and Kraft saying on national TV that he was wrong to trust the league and everything else he says isn't enough, you believe they were wrong to stop at anything short of the nuclear option?

3) Attend Brady's appeal to Goodell.

Is that even feasible and if so what would it have accomplished?

3a) Not try to pass the blame on to the lawyers!

4) Since this amicus is such a strong statement for you, how about filing one for the first court case? How about the first appeal?

I can agree with this.

So from what you've listed the only realistic stuff I can see that might have had some bearing on the case is to file an amicus brief for the first court case, the one that Brady won?

 

[rochrist]

Honest question - what more do you think the Patriots could have done to help Brady?

ARGHLBARGL APPEAL!!!

 

[fnordcircle]

I'll say this much:

I think Bob has been weasel-y at times during this whole debacle but that's because he's probably trying to walk a fine line between blowing up his standing in the league and standing by Brady.

I think you need look no further than Brady's actions as a good barometer of how Kraft has been, overall. Do you think Tom Brady would redone his deal and saved this team cap space if he felt Kraft was leaving him out to dry? Do you think Tom would still be interested in coming in here and working his ass off if Kraft was as bad as you guys make him out to be?

Kraft standing by Goodell and saying he's done a good job overall is gall inducing no matter where you stand on it and likely done out of self-interest in preserving his standing in the league. But when push comes to shove I think Kraft has shown multiple times that he will stand by Tom to his own detriment and that is why I believe that the team did decide to take it on the chin in the appeals process hoping that the Commish would go easier on Tom. (Not to mention that the idea that the Commissioner would scale back the punishments on appeal is laughable and everyone here knows that)

Again - if Kraft was as bad as you guys say Brady would be acting very differently right now, that's all the proof that I need that overall Kraft has still been in Brady's corner and remains there.

 

[1960Pats]

I'll say this much:

I think Bob has been weasel-y at times during this whole debacle but that's because he's probably trying to walk a fine line between blowing up his standing in the league and standing by Brady.

I think you need look no further than Brady's actions as a good barometer of how Kraft has been, overall. Do you think Tom Brady would redone his deal and saved this team cap space if he felt Kraft was leaving him out to dry? Do you think Tom would still be interested in coming in here and working his ass off if Kraft was as bad as you guys make him out to be?

Kraft standing by Goodell and saying he's done a good job overall is gall inducing no matter where you stand on it and likely done out of self-interest in preserving his standing in the league. But when push comes to shove I think Kraft has shown multiple times that he will stand by Tom to his own detriment and that is why I believe that the team did decide to take it on the chin in the appeals process hoping that the Commish would go easier on Tom. (Not to mention that the idea that the Commissioner would scale back the punishments on appeal is laughable and everyone here knows that)

Again - if Kraft was as bad as you guys say Brady would be acting very differently right now, that's all the proof that I need that overall Kraft has still been in Brady's corner and remains there.

I'll address your statements and comments one at a time:

I agree.
Yes.
Yes.
Agree.
Disagree.
Maybe.

 

[h0c2000]

Rename thread: May-June Kraft Love thread, since that's what it's going to be.

Close to his May-December romance.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) | Twitter

Schefter just tweeted....

looks like kraft is feeling the anger from fans

the cynic in me thinks he's feeling it in his pocket-book.

but, I do believe he is doing this (finally) for TB.

 

[lamafist]

The simple answer is appeal their punishment, even knowing that it wouldn't go anywhere. They also could've refused to suspend Jastremski and McNally, given their assertions that they did nothing wrong (I can sorta get why they did since they were hoping that it would factor into the team and Brady's punishment, but IMO they were foolish to expect Goodell to be in any way reasonable anywhere in the process).

Most importantly, I think Kraft should've publicly called for Goodell's head. The moment the Wells Report came out, it was abundantly clear that Goodell had it out for the Patriots and had no interest in acting reasonably. When the commissioner has made it that clear that he's intent on burying you, there's no reason at all to maintain even a shred of civility.

Would any of that have changed the punishment? Probably not, but as Manning showed, how you respond to this stuff shapes public opinion. Manning came out furiously denying everything and threatening to sue, and while nobody ever actually thought he would, I think that's one of the main reasons why that didn't end up being a bigger PR black eye than it was. Meanwhile, to this day we have people saying that Brady must be guilty because the organization admitted its guilt by suspending the ballboys and not appealing.

And while I respect and appreciate that the organization is going to bat for Brady now, they're doing what they should have done a year ago.

Appealing the team's punishment would have been an much more of an empty gesture than this Amicus brief. All it would do is give Goodell and maybe even an owner or two the opportunity to get up in front of microphone, say integrity a bunch of times, remind everyone of Spygate, and maybe make up another couple of slanderous lies.

Also, you forget that Kraft's original response in the days after the AFCCG was to furiously deny everything, and demand an apology from the NFL. Didn't change public perception one bit. When the Wells report came out, Kraft furiously condemned it as prejudicial and misleading, and released a detailed refutation of it. Not only did it not move the needle on public perception one bit, the only part of the Wells report in context that got any media play was mockery of the suggestion that the "deflator" was a reference to dieting.

As for calling for Goodell's head, well, firstly, that's forbidden under the owners' contractual agreement, and could result in further loss of draft picks. Furthermore, all it would accomplish is keeping the media focused on the Kraft vs Goodell, he said/she said fight. It was only after Kraft shut up for a while that people started to really look at the case and notice how flimsy the league's case was, and how ridiculous it was to make such a big deal about it.

 

[The Gr8est]

I wonder if this is more an FU to a circle of owners more than Goodell. I have no idea how this will be received by the courts but it is a very loud statement to the NFLPA that something unfair is going on. The NFLPA can use this in the next CBA negotiation in which some of the lower income teams might be extremely hurt if they have to conceded money to the players in order to avoid strike. The richer owners of which Kraft is one don't get hurt as much by shifting money in CBA negotiations.

Maybe Kraft watched the draft and finally figured out that this was all about the NFL* cheating to give all of the other teams a competitive advantage against the Pats and decided he was done playing the patsy?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Also, you forget that Kraft's original response in the days after the AFCCG was to furiously deny everything, and demand an apology from the NFL. Didn't change public perception one bit.

I don't forget it at all. I'd argue that it did help a lot in shifting public perception. I'd point to that and Belichick's press conference as pretty much the turning points where it occurred to people that maybe the Pats hadn't done anything wrong. It absolutely shifted the narrative, at least until the Wells Report dropped.

 

[Wrath Mania]

It is indeed too little too late, but at least it's not another update on wellsreportcontext.angelfire.net

 

[lamafist]

Well, it only took 493 days.....

115 of those days you're counting were before any punishment was announced, and when Kraft was on record saying the NFL owed the Patriots an apology. During 235 of those days, Brady's suspension had been vacated, and it was considered a long shot that Berman would be overturned.

But counting those days makes your point look stronger. That's some real Exponent-style math you're using.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Something must have happened at that owners meeting.

KRAFT (raising hand): Ooooooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
GOODELL (exasperatedly): Yes, Robert.
(annoyed grumbles from room)
KRAFT: Hey guys. As you may know I'm getting crucified by my fans for backing all you guys up, so you need to do me a little favor.
MARA (sotto voce): Oh god, what now.
KRAFT: I have this website called Wells Report in Context. Pretty much nobody outside of NE knows or cares about it, but I do keep it updated now and then so it looks to the fans like I'm on their side. But frankly, they don't really care about it much anymore, either.
(eyerolls and sighs from room)
KRAFT: Anyway, my PR people tell me I really need to do something, so I've had my attorney grab a bunch of stuff from the website and stuff it into a legal brief that I'd like to file as amicus for Tom. And Roger, you know I'm on record as saying you do a great job, but I do need some cover here, so I gotta tell you that I did need to have them put in some of the "NFL being unfair, yada, yada, yada" stuff so I don't look too stupid. And I'm really sorry about that, Roger, but I do need some PR cover.
(GOODELL dismissively gives KRAFT a "whatever" wave)
KRAFT: So guys, is it OK if I file this thing? The laywers tell me the judges aren't going to pay much attention to it.
(Lots of disinterested "yeah"s and "fine"s)
KRAFT: Thanks, guys! Much appreciated. And isn't Roger really doing a great job?

 

[fnordcircle]

Rename thread: May-June Kraft Love thread, since that's what it's going to be.

You son of a *****!

 

[SVN]

 

[JayNM]

Better late than never.

I wished i had seem some like this before the final steps of this long, nauseating journey

 

[ReverendMaynard]

Has nothing to do with Brady.

It was an opportunity to refute the actual allegations, that balls had been deflated.

Wellsreportincontext and Kraft saying on national TV that he was wrong to trust the league and everything else he says isn't enough, you believe they were wrong to stop at anything short of the nuclear option?

The Context site is even more useless than this amicus. No one who's not already on their side is ever going to read it. Kraft said he was wrong to trust the league, and tried to blame the lawyers for the whole thing.

For me, the NFL is dead to me, so, yes, the nuclear option is fine. Why would I want to be a part of one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet, where my "partners" can't wait to railroad me and **** me in the ass at every opportunity? I'll take my $2 billion and go, and make it the rest of my life's work to bring you ****ers down.

Is that even feasible and if so what would it have accomplished?


I don't know, but he would have been in their faces. If they're going to lie, cheat and steal from him, at least make them do it in front of his face. With corruption this deep, he should want to be there just to make sure he knows what happened and not the lies told to him later by Goody.




I can agree with this.

So from what you've listed the only realistic stuff I can see that might have had some bearing on the case is to file an amicus brief for the first court case, the one that Brady won?

See, you're so eager to absolve Kraft you forgot all about the case that Brady lost, one which Kraft didn't file any briefs for either.

Like I said, I would go nuclear, so for him to do absolutely nothing, as he has, is just incomprehensible to me. Clearly his priorities are not what he claims they are, or he would not have taken this course.