Kraft's response

Kraft misjudged how much Goodell needed to come down hard on the Patriots. From the second this got to be big news, Goodell needed to make the Pats the fall guys and make it look like he can come down hard on a team. Goodell couldn't afford another black mark for the league office and making the Patriots the bad guys have taken the heat off of him for now.

sb1 said:

According to the letter the NFL has punished M&J today as well. But if it was the Patriots that suspended them first then I don't think that's unusual. I think it makes sense to suspend them if there is accusations of tampering with footballs until things get resolved and we find out what happened.

I wouldn't read into it that much.

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He suspended them the day the report came out. He will obviously screw people over to get ahead. In this case he screwed them over and still got nothing.

Bella*chick said:

I feel bad for Kraft that he let it turn into this ****show because he clearly expected that the punishment wouldn't be so egregious. I would love to know what his initial reaction was to his so-called bestie dropping this today. And this statement reads as dazed to me.

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As much as I love and respect Bob for all he has done for us and the franchise, I don't feel sorry for him over this. He HAD to know the possibilities, especially after getting reamed for Cameraplacementgate. He's looking bad right now and better do something about it.

Sfpat said:

It's not the CBA. It's the agreement every team has with the league as part of their participation

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Every contract can be beaten. The questions are whether or not Kraft's lawyers are better than Sterling's lawyers were, and whether or not Kraft actually does more than have his PR department issue meaningless statements.

Here is where some people are missing the point, Robert Kraft is a powerful businessman, if he came out with a strong statement like "We disagree with Roger Goodell and don't accept any punishment" it would be hard for him to gather support from the other owners.

With him making a statement like this, letting the NFL and Goodell know that he is going to fight this, he will be able to privately gather the troops with the other owners and actively make a play against Goodell.

While it isn't the big "F you Goodell, I'm coming for you" we all wish he could have said, it was an important move.

Old weak not hungry anymore he should hand the team to Brady and bow out Brady could run the team from retirement keep BB as GM and Josh as head cosch.

The pacing of things suggests there was a lot of backroom chatter the past few months. I'm guessing Kraft told the league office he would make a peace offering in the form of Jastremski and McNally being suspended, as well as the earlier, more contrite statement "accepting punishment". But I'm guessing Kraft wouldn't accept sanctions against Brady - in large part because he probably doesn't believe Brady did anything wrong. And that probably pissed off the league office.

Make no mistake, the fine and draft picks were meant to punish _Kraft_. Not Belichick, not the coaches, not the fans. It wasn't meant to hurt the Patriot's competitively in the coming years - it was to devalue the Patriots as a franchise to harm Kraft as an owner.

He can drink his drinks and sit there in a luxury box.

Jackson 2 said:

If the dumb bastards didn't know enough to be careful what they were texting on work phones owned by the team, then they deserved what they got.

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You assume they were doing something WRONG? If One assumes they were doing nothing wrong then why would they need to be careful of what they were texting on their work phones. This whole fiasco is based upon what you have just done. ASSUMING guilt rather then being led by actual evidence rather then preconceptions.

Can Kraft hire Kevin Durant as his lawyer? "We demand these sanctions be cut in half!"

I would add: either Goodell's ego has grown entirely out of step with reality, or he has at least one major owner backing him and rallying support behind the scenes.

ChrisR2223 said:

He can drink his drinks and sit there in a luxury box.

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On his throne chair above the common folk.

Goodell just stabbed one of his Biggest Supporters in the Back. I am looking forward to seeing the Imminent Demise of Goodell's reign as Commissioner!

DShero said:

The Patriots didn't suspend anyone. The NFL did.

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In the NFL's statement they say that Kraft informed goodell they were suspended indefinitely without pay starting May 6.

FreeTedWilliams said:

Kraft could call for godell's removal at the next owners meeting.

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I'd say at least 25 owners or more would oppose this.

I've seen Kraft straight up backing this SON OF A ***** that is Goodell after he OUTRIGHT LIED about a woman being KNOCKED THE **** OUT by one player.

Kraft has a major part on the creation of this satanic beast that is our current Mr. Commissioner.

Sorry, he has lost the benefit of the doubt. Until i see some ****ing action against this gang that leads the NFL, Kraft is part of the problem, not the solution

ChrisR2223 said:

He can drink his drinks and sit there in a luxury box.

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With his "escort". Maybe he can talk about the good old days with the POS

rochrist said:

Its kind of beside the point I know, but do you -seriouly- think Bob Kraft got to be worth multiple billions of dollars by being a lamb? The world does not reward lambs that way.

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Kraft made a statement that might make you guys think "nothing will happen." It clearly leaves open any options he may have. (Edit - I don't mean you, Ro, you seem to get it.) He knew he had to make a statement fairly quickly. He knew he wanted to keep all options open. He did all that, even if fans can only read "boo hoo he didn't pitch a hissy fit."

Irsay, And The Baltimore owner, Woody Johnson, that's all you need.

Rawky77 said:

You assume they were doing something WRONG? If One assumes they were doing nothing wrong then why would they need to be careful of what they were texting on their work phones. This whole fiasco is based upon what you have just done. ASSUMING guilt rather then being led by actual evidence rather then preconceptions.

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If you read those texts in the report and still, to use your words, assume they were doing nothing wrong, then I can't help you. Hey, I use the saltiest language imaginable at times, but I never even said "hell" or "damn" on my company owned cell phone. Their language alone was stupid.