Robert Kraft defends Roger Goodell: "The way he has handled this situation is excellent"

SB39 · Sep 9, 2014

mayoclinic said:
Let's assume that Ray Rice is not a monster with a long history of abusive behavior, but that this was a one-time event (we don't know, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt). He could have accepted responsibility for his actions, made it clear what circumstances were involved that helped facilitate (but not excuse) such actions, accepted his punishment, and become the NFL poster-boy for a domestic violence policy and campaign.

I don't believe for a second people would have accepted this. This isn't some drunk driving accident where he gets punished by being force to lecture high schoolers about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Do you want a girlfriend abuser lecturing you about not beating your girlfriend?

SB39 · Sep 9, 2014

Ivan said:
This why I think that even though Rice's actions were absolutely despicable and the ensuing actions by the league as great a clusterf.ck as we have witnessed in a long while it will ultimately be one of the best things that could happen for the scourge of domestic violence as every athlete out there has to be well aware of how this has gone down and the price they are going to pay for losing their sh.t and knocking women around.

Yeah, we've only had 2 incidents over the past week so they are obviously getting the message.

Good thing those incidents weren't on camera or Ray McDonald might be in some real trouble.

Ivan · Sep 9, 2014

mayoclinic said:
What Rice deserved was to be prosecuted for his act, for which there was clear video evidence, sentenced appropriately, punished appropriately by the NFL, and come clean about what occurred.

Let's assume that Ray Rice is not a monster with a long history of abusive behavior, but that this was a one-time event (we don't know, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt). He could have accepted responsibility for his actions, made it clear what circumstances were involved that helped facilitate (but not excuse) such actions, accepted his punishment, and become the NFL poster-boy for a domestic violence policy and campaign. He could have worked to rehabilitate his image and to raise national awareness on this issue. He would have been suspended for a considerable period of time and might have served some jail time, though that might have been managed (consider Alfonzo Dennard's sentence for punching a cop). And at the end of it he would have gone on with his career. Everyone would have condemned the sin, but not the sinner, assuming his contrition was genuine and his subsequent behavior pristine.

Instead the authorities, his team and the league worked with him to try and sweep it under the rug despite clear evidence that was bound to come out, and now they are all caught in the middle of a mess that is 1000 times bigger than the original incident. And they have only themselves to blame for their own ineptness, greed and stupidity.

It's both pathetic and beautiful.

Rice and his family and lawyers had seen the tape and if he really wanted to come clean he could have actually shown them the tape because his lawyer had it in his possession, the fact that the Ravens and the League didn't ask for it damns them but ultimately Rice could have said here it is and it's really bad and he didn't. You're right in that by trying to sweep it under the rug and going light they ultimately made matters worse for him but he could have simply turned over the tape and it would have been much harder for them to screw it up this bad. Goodell clearly did not want to see what was on that tape and no one can convince me he did as all he had to do was call Rice in and tell him to have his lawyer send him a copy so he could determine the sanctions. Rice could have offered and Goodell could have asked, neither did, too late now.

Ivan · Sep 9, 2014

SB39 said:
Yeah, we've only had 2 incidents over the past week so they are obviously getting the message.

Good thing those incidents weren't on camera or Ray McDonald might be in some real trouble.

Well the tape came out yesterday so unless MacDonald smacked his girlfriend around again last night he clearly didn't know that the new standard was termination of contract and indefinite suspension, but nice try at being a d.ck, it suits you well, probably because you practice so much.

mayoclinic · Sep 9, 2014

SB39 said:
I don't believe for a second people would have accepted this. This isn't some drunk driving accident where he gets punished by being force to lecture high schoolers about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Do you want a girlfriend abuser lecturing you about not beating your girlfriend?

People believed the spin the NFL, Ravens and Rice's lawyer put on things until the video came up. They generally want to give the benefit of the doubt. Given a story of casino intoxication, and with his fiancee playing the party line, I'm sure it could have been sold.

Why is Ray Rice a pariah in the NFL right now? Because he punched his fiancee? Of course not. I don't see Ray McDonald or Greg Hardy being condemned and ostracized by their teammates. Both played this past weekend. Is what Rice did any worse than what they allegedly did? He's a pariah because he got caught red-handed on tape, and especially because people let him get away with it in the first place.

SB39 · Sep 9, 2014

Ivan said:
Rice and his family and lawyers had seen the tape and if he really wanted to come clean he could have actually shown them the tape because his lawyer had it in his possession, the fact that the Ravens and the League didn't ask for it damns them but ultimately Rice could have said here it is and it's really bad and he didn't.

Lawyers generally don't advise their clients to come forth with evidence that makes them look more guilty - especially when millions of dollars are at stake.

Ivan · Sep 9, 2014

SB39 said:
Lawyers generally don't advise their clients to come forth with evidence that makes them look more guilty - especially when millions of dollars are at stake.

No sh.t, damn you're smart. That doesn't change the fact that they had it and could have cleared everything up and chose not to, and now that it's out he's in a far worse situation than he would have been had he come clean. He still would have faced a sh.tstorm when Goodell gave him 3 instead of 2 but he had the opportunity to come clean and passed on it. And it certainly doesn't change the fact that Goodell simply could have told them he wanted to see it before passing judgement but played the see no evil card instead. Bottom line, they deserve each other and the sh.tstorm they are now facing.

SB39 · Sep 9, 2014

mayoclinic said:
People believed the spin the NFL, Ravens and Rice's lawyer put on things until the video came up. They generally want to give the benefit of the doubt. Given a story of casino intoxication, and with his fiancee playing the party line, I'm sure it could have been sold.

Why is Ray Rice a pariah in the NFL right now? Because he punched his fiancee? Of course not. I don't see Ray McDonald or Greg Hardy being condemned and ostracized by their teammates. Both played this past weekend. Is what Rice did any worse than what they allegedly did? He's a pariah because he got caught red-handed on tape, and especially because people let him get away with it in the first place.

Ray Rice is a pariah because his crime was caught on tape for all to see. As much as it makes no logical sense, people respond in a much more visceral manner when they see something than when they have the exact same thing described.

That's why no one is talking about Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy and Quincy Enunwa (albeit he isn't on the 53 man). I even heard rumors that McDonald has a prior offense, which was never made public. I know it's just a rumor, but it is a believable one.

SB39 · Sep 9, 2014

Ivan said:
No sh.t, damn you're smart. That doesn't change the fact that they had it and could have cleared everything up and chose not to, and now that it's out he's in a far worse situation than he would have been had he come clean.

The league is in a far worse shi.tstorm. I don't think Ray Rice helps his case by voluntarily presenting the most damning piece of evidence against him for all to see.

It's not Ray Rice's lawyer's job to help his client get a tougher punishment than what he was otherwise given.

condon84 · Sep 10, 2014

PatsGuy said:
Oh I see...quilt by association. Didn't someone in the 50's use that tactic. But we live in the 21 century. No one not even Felger Neumier et al would even think of something like this

Considering this is what Kraft said about Rice today

"I think everyone that witnessed that video yesterday has to be outraged and really disgusted to see someone associated with us doing something like that," Kraft said. "Anyone who is a real man doesn't hit a woman."

He opened himself up to get criticized for associating himself in the past with a known women beater like Floyd.

Zeus · Sep 10, 2014

SB39 said:
The league is in a far worse shi.tstorm. I don't think Ray Rice helps his case by voluntarily presenting the most damning piece of evidence against him for all to see.

It's not Ray Rice's lawyer's job to help his client get a tougher punishment than what he was otherwise given.

Unfortunately for Mr. Rice, his lawyer's 'blame the victim' strategy combined with concealing the information from the tape hasn't served his client all that well. Arguably, the only outcome for Rice that would have been worse was jail time, but since the authorities had access to the tape, that was beyond the lawyer's control, at least as far as the tape was concerned. He gambled that the tape wouldn't come out and lost. Rice is likely worse off for it.

mayoclinic · Sep 10, 2014

Zeus said:
Unfortunately for Mr. Rice, his lawyer's 'blame the victim' strategy combined with concealing the information from the tape hasn't served his client all that well. Arguably, the only outcome for Rice that would have been worse was jail time, but since the authorities had access to the tape, that was beyond the lawyer's control, at least as far as the tape was concerned. He gambled that the tape wouldn't come out and lost. Rice is likely worse off for it.

It's even possible that if the New Jersey prosecutors had proceeded against Rice (and with that visual evidence Rice's leverage would be low) and made the evidence discretely available to the NFL and the Ravens, with Rice being punished accordingly, that the entire incident would have blown over and TMZ would never have been motivated to obtain the video in question and make it public. Probably not, but it took them 8 months to get the video, and if there was no issue over Rice's punishment, then there would be no impetus to keep digging.

Zeus · Sep 10, 2014

mayoclinic said:
It's even possible that if the New Jersey prosecutors had proceeded against Rice (and with that visual evidence Rice's leverage would be low) and made the evidence discretely available to the NFL and the Ravens, with Rice being punished accordingly, that the entire incident would have blown over and TMZ would never have been motivated to obtain the video in question and make it public. Probably not, but it took them 8 months to get the video, and if there was no issue over Rice's punishment, then there would be no impetus to keep digging.

At a minimum, the Redemption of Ray Rice (watch this space) would have a much better starting point. I'll likely comment on this elsewhere, but the shame that Rice, his lawyer, the Ravens and the NFL all bear for how they treated Janay Palmer in Rice's defense will not go away for a long time.

FalconHeavy · Sep 10, 2014

Well now its up to the media to keep the heat on the NFL and its cronies. After yesterdays TMZ promise fizzled out, it appears this guy is not going anywhere. In all honesty why would the owners care? They are rolling in the money and all set for next 10 years. Look at one of the most depressing franchise, Bills, getting sold for a billion dollars !

I'm pretty confident what Mark Cuban predicted will come to fruitition, but the owners would have long made their money and will simply move on to something else and thanks to manning and that f***** up competition committee, NFL in next 10 years would be completely unrecognizable the way we knew it 10 years back.

Greedy Bastards.

PatsWickedPissah · Sep 10, 2014

mayoclinic said:
Instead the authorities, his team and the league worked with him to try and sweep it under the rug despite clear evidence that was bound to come out, and now they are all caught in the middle of a media feeding frenzy and public relations debacle that is 1000 times bigger than the original incident. And they have only themselves to blame for their own ineptness, greed and stupidity.
It's both pathetic and beautiful.

THIS is why Goodell should be fired.
It's business. The NFL is in the entertainment business. The value and perception of the brand is what dominates in importance. That's why normally private conduct in most industries has a major public impact in the NFL.
Goodell's player discipline actions and the constant modification of the way refs call the games are intended to gain acceptance by new members of the public and grow revenues.
Instead, Goodell's own actions in this case have amplified this "debacle 1,000 times"
That scale of a screw up where your CEO demolishes your business plan and besmirches the brand by his direct ineptitude not once but ongoing deserves firing by his BOD, the owners.
Unfortunately, we have a major owner spokesman Bob Kraft, obviously in the early stages of senility rating the CEO's performance as "excellent". WTF??? Bob needs to stick to chasing skanks.

dales804 · Sep 10, 2014

I know there's been a long discussion on this and I didn't read everyone's post. I just want to post and say how disappointed I am to read what Kraft said. I know the owners employ Goodell but there is now way in hell the NFL didn't know about or view that sickening video long ago. They've covered it up and are now lying about it. I knew that video existed and was just expecting it to become public one day.

PatsWickedPissah · Sep 10, 2014

dales804 said:
I know there's been a long discussion on this and I didn't read everyone's post. I just want to post and say ...

So, you don't want to bother to read what others have to say BUT you posted because want others to read what YOU have to say.

Too funny!

All said, I agree with you.

dales804 · Sep 10, 2014

PatsWickedPissah said:
So, you don't want to bother to read what others have to say BUT you posted because want others to read what YOU have to say.

Too funny!

All said, I agree with you.

Didn't say I want anyone to read it just that I want to post it.

SB39 · Sep 10, 2014

I can't say I understand this mentality that if someone screws up once, they need to be fired.

The most colossal, monumental commissioner screwup of all time - one we still remember 50 years later - was Pete Rozelle playing games the weekend after the JFK assassination. Good thing we didn't have twitter and ESPN back then or we may have lost the guy widely seen as the best commissioner in sports.

mayoclinic · Sep 10, 2014

SB39 said:
I can't say I understand this mentality that if someone screws up once, they need to be fired.

The most colossal, monumental commissioner screwup of all time - one we still remember 50 years later - was Pete Rozelle playing games the weekend after the JFK assassination. Good thing we didn't have twitter and ESPN back then or we may have lost the guy widely seen as the best commissioner in sports.

The big difference is that Pete Rozelle stated publicly on many occasions that that was his biggest mistake, and that he deeply regretted his lapse of judgment.

Roger Goodell could significantly reduce the heat by following Steve Bisciotti's example and accepting responsibility for screwing up:

Seeing that video changed everything. We should have seen it earlier. We should have pursued our own investigation more vigorously. We didn’t and we were wrong. We did not do all we should have done and no amount of explanation can remedy that. I am sorry we let you down.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/09/full-text-of-bisciotti-letter-to-ravens-psl-holders/

Goodell has accepted some responsibility for his original inadequate punishment and poor judgment, but only in a letter to the owners, not to the general public, and not at all for botching the investigation. If he simply went public and said something like "we requested the video, but we didn't go far enough in making sure that we obtained it from either law enforcement or Ray Rice's attorney and viewed it before passing judgment on the case - a judgment that was woefully inadequate in light of the evidence - and that was an egregious mistake that we can't undo; we can only try to rectify it to the best of our ability in this case, and make sure that it doesn't occur in future cases", then the majority of the issue would be resolved. The league would have a black eye from the incident, but barring new evidence there would be nothing more to say. But that's not in his character. Instead, he squirms and weasels and makes it look like the poor powerless NFL was victimized by law enforcement not sharing evidence.

Robert Kraft defends Roger Goodell: "The way he has handled this situation is excellent"

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

Hall of Fame Poster

Hall of Fame Poster

PatsFans.com Supporter

In the Starting Line-Up

Hall of Fame Poster

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

Patriots Nation

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Supporter

Similar threads