- Joined
- Nov 14, 2006
- Messages
- 49,611
- Reaction score
- 28,307
That has been the prevailing storyline in the media now. They are spinning this into a big win for Goodell because coming down hard on the Patriots have won over all these other clubs. I find that a silly argument. Here is why:
- Kraft is one of the two or three most powerful owners in the league. Even if Goodell won over the Shad Khans of the world, winning support for powerless owners doesn't offset losing one of the major power brokers in the league.
- I am sure there are a lot of owners saying to themselves "If Goodell can do this to his buddy, what will happen if he sets his sights on me?". I think that many owners are quietly saying to themselves that Goodell is too power-hungry, inflexible, and cannot see how to see nuances of the situation. I think even the owners who hate the Pats and enjoy this will see how Goodell screwed up this situation and could do the same to them.
- Goodell has lost Kraft forever. How long will the owners who were won over by this punishment be happy with Goodell? A week? A month? A year? Goodell has another Ray Rice type scandal, these owners are not going to say "Yeah, but he got the Deflategate thing right". Any owner he won over for this whole thing will only be won over if he builds on it.
- What happens if and when Brady takes this to court, wins a chance to get a truly independent arbitrator, and get the suspension overturn while the Patriots file a grievance and wins? Will these owners still be enamored with Goodell? We know Kraft will still hate Goodell.