Kraft’s shot across the bow of the other Owners:

I believe that Kraft is way too smart to lay out all his cards at this early a date in what could become a long protracted battle. So what is he really hoping to accomplish with his most recent tactic of having his attorney tear the Well’s report to shreds in public?

By the way this attack upon the Wells report is a direct violation of NFL Ownership rules which prohibit any public disagreement with league decisions by team owners.


Kraft is telling the Owners this is my warning short so you best be paying attention! This one will not be swept under the rug and allowed to die a never ending death in the darkness.


I have a real grievance and I will not sit still this time and take one for the team.


We have done nothing wrong and if I do not get a path to a satisfactory resolution of this matter at the upcoming Owners meeting, IN 5 DAYS, scheduled for, May 19-21: 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia than I am going to have to consider I am on my own and I will act accordingly.

Rawky77 said:

By the way this attack upon the Wells report is a direct violation of NFL Ownership rules which prohibit any public disagreement with league decisions by team owners.

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Wrong. The attack on the Wells report is an attack on an independent report - or are you saying that the Wells report was simply the NFL front office's handiwork? Can't have it both ways.

JJC said:

Wrong. The attack on the Wells report is an attack on an independent report - or are you saying that the Wells report was simply the NFL front office's handiwork? Can't have it both ways.

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Yes the Wells report is a direct extension of the NFL Commissioner"s office. Wells was hired and directed to produce a report that would support the Commissioner's narrative and goal. He was but the puppet in Goodell's hand. The proof of this will become a matter of record when subpena's are issued and both wells and the NFL commissioner's office deny they have to produce any records due to attorney client privilege.

Wells is no more independent than the NFL counsel Atty Pash.

Rawky77 said:

Yes the Wells report is a direct extension of the NFL Commissioner"s office. Wells was hired and directed to produce a report that would support the Commissioner's narrative and goal. He was but the puppet in Goodell's hand. The proof of this will become a matter of record when subpena's are issued and both wells and the NFL commissioner's office deny they have to produce any records due to attorney client privilege.

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Exactly! And that should make it clear that the investigation was a Stalinist tribunal in which Goodell was judge, jury, and executioner. It was followed by a sham of an appeal.

So citing the counter site for a rule violation will undermine the NFL's claims that they were fair in their dealings - a bad thing going into court.

Forgive me, but I am not so sure Kraft is that smart or has the stomach for this fight. He was ready to give up like he did with Spygate. He enjoys being an NFL darling, but at the end of the day he is only one of 32, and even though he has one of the elite franchises, he is still only one. Supposedly everybody hates the Pats and is glad to see them get their comeuppance. What if Kraft destroys the NFL? What if despite all the Pats' best efforts all the penalties stick? Where are the other owners? Why has no one publically come to his rescue or defense? Why have so few players come to Brady's rescue or defense? We need friends, but it seems like we don't have any.

PatsDeb said:

Forgive me, but I am not so sure Kraft is that smart or has the stomach for this fight. He was ready to give up like he did with Spygate. He enjoys being an NFL darling, but at the end of the day he is only one of 32, and even though he has one of the elite franchises, he is still only one. Supposedly everybody hates the Pats and is glad to see them get their comeuppance. What if Kraft destroys the NFL? What if despite all the Pats' best efforts all the penalties stick? Where are the other owners? Why has no one publically come to his rescue or defense? Why have so few players come to Brady's rescue or defense? We need friends, but it seems like we don't have any.

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There is more going on than what is reported. Most people, owners, players, don't like the media and usually only interact with them for NFL rules and publicity.
If fighting an unjust ruling causes the NFL to be destroyed, then the NFL wouldn't survive anyways. They caused this whole thing by allowing the media into the witch hunt. Now everything is out and both sides are wheeling and dealing trying to end this fiasco.
Goodell will come out and uphold the punishment! He can do nothing less. He cannot over rule his VP and say 'whoops, our bad. We messed up. Never mind'.
This will all be heard by an independent arbitrator, who will start fresh without the NFL s preconceived 'guilty until proven guilty' mindset. The sting will come out, the coverup will come out. And the NFL will bargain to keep the findings quiet by agreeing to reduce all the penalties. Or we'll still be screwed! But no worse than we are now!

Patstopia said:

There is more going on than what is reported. Most people, owners, players, don't like the media and usually only interact with them for NFL rules and publicity.
If fighting an unjust ruling causes the NFL to be destroyed, then the NFL wouldn't survive anyways. They caused this whole thing by allowing the media into the witch hunt. Now everything is out and both sides are wheeling and dealing trying to end this fiasco.
Goodell will come out and uphold the punishment! He can do nothing less. He cannot over rule his VP and say 'whoops, our bad. We messed up. Never mind'.
This will all be heard by an independent arbitrator, who will start fresh without the NFL s preconceived 'guilty until proven guilty' mindset. The sting will come out, the coverup will come out. And the NFL will bargain to keep the findings quiet by agreeing to reduce all the penalties. Or we'll still be screwed! But no worse than we are now!

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No doubt there is more going on than meets the eye, but we still have no friends, at least publicly, and that to me is a shame, on the league, on the other teams and on the other players. Brady was willing to be a lead plaintiff for all the players when they needed to take on the league, and it seems like he's been abandoned (and worse, with high profile players jumping on the NFL bandwagon) in his hour of need.

PatsDeb said:

Forgive me, but I am not so sure Kraft is that smart or has the stomach for this fight. He was ready to give up like he did with Spygate. He enjoys being an NFL darling, but at the end of the day he is only one of 32, and even though he has one of the elite franchises, he is still only one. Supposedly everybody hates the Pats and is glad to see them get their comeuppance. What if Kraft destroys the NFL? What if despite all the Pats' best efforts all the penalties stick? Where are the other owners? Why has no one publicly come to his rescue or defense? Why have so few players come to Brady's rescue or defense? We need friends, but it seems like we don't have any.

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I agree that he is only one of 32 Owners and only a few have even spoken on this matter and most were simply praising Goodell. This is why it is important to understand what Kraft's publication of his view of deflategate is really saying.
If you are one of the other 31 Owners and in particular among those who have talked directly to Mr Kraft since the Commissioner dropped the hammer how will you interpret Kraft's publication of his attorneys shredding of the Wells report in the media?
Each of those 31 owners has only 4 days to interpret this action before they have to sit in a room with him and respond to his face, eye to eye. (I would so love to be a fly on the wall in this meeting)
Having only 4 days is fortuitous for Kraft because it allows little time for Goodell to attempt to rally personal support amongst so many owners.
One thing all the Owners do not want is Kraft to sue the NFL period. If Kraft sues regardless of the outcome the NFL can only lose. This bad outcome has been proven over and over again in the past. Federal courts have never been kind to the NFL.
I sincerely believe that at the end of this Owners meeting Kraft will know exactly where he stands and if their is any possibility to resolve this matter amongst the group. If he sees no possible resolution in the group than he must decide whether or not to go all Al Davis on the NFL.
My gut tells me Kraft does not wish to do go Al Davis on the NFL but it also is telling me he has the Balls and the will to do so .
Hopefully the other Owners get the message that he has sent!

Rawky77 said:

One thing all the Owners do not want is Kraft to sue the NFL period. If Kraft sues regardless of the outcome the NFL can only lose. This bad outcome has been proven over and over again in the past. Federal courts have never been kind to the NFL.

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In a sense, they've already crossed that bridge. Tom Brady is going to sue the NFL, not just to get his punishment overturned, but in a defamation suit that goes right to the sting operation. A suit from Kraft would have higher dollar figures (the difference between what he would have gotten and what he will get now when he sells the New England Patriots), but the bigger picture risk to the league is the same.

Some people are saying that the appeal will never be heard

some logically thinking person will lay down the understanding that based solely on fact, that there should have never even been an investigation in the first place

PatsDeb said:

What if Kraft destroys the NFL? What if despite all the Pats' best efforts all the penalties stick? Where are the other owners? Why has no one publically come to his rescue or defense? Why have so few players come to Brady's rescue or defense? We need friends, but it seems like we don't have any.

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This won't destroy the NFL. They'll play the games and 32 city-states will return to rooting for their guys and hating their opponents. It's a part of our DNA.

Why has no one come to their rescue? They don't need it. This is a heavyweight fight between the Commissioner and his stooges vs. the best QB of all time and the most successful franchise of the past 15 years.

This is the most interesting battle in pro sports since Marvin Miller took on the imperial Major League baseball commissioner and owners to overturn the reserve clause and create free agency.

I do not know if there will be momentous change in the NFL, but you can bet the role of the Commissioner will be vastly different- one way or the other - after this is over.

Already some ESPN stooges are saying Kraft has shot his wad and failed to change public opinion so he will accept his punishment. IMO they have missed the entire rationale for the rebuttal. I t was not to change public opinion of the Pats which has been in the toilet since the 2007 capitulation but to rally the supporters in New England and else that support the team and to provide food for thought for the other owners about how far they want to back the POS for a case that will lose regarding Brady and maybe Kraft. For Kraft to stop now would alienate for good his most loyal supporters and actually expose the team to continuing frivolous punishments.

PatsDeb said:

No doubt there is more going on than meets the eye, but we still have no friends, at least publicly, and that to me is a shame, on the league, on the other teams and on the other players. Brady was willing to be a lead plaintiff for all the players when they needed to take on the league, and it seems like he's been abandoned (and worse, with high profile players jumping on the NFL bandwagon) in his hour of need.

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A number of players and front office people have defended the Pats.

rochrist said:

A number of players and front office people have defended the Pats.

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Like who?

Chiuba E. Obele said:

Like who?

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The front office people tend to be nameless, cited in various stories. Players, I can't remember all of them, but the most recent was Brett Favre.

This pisses me off. Arthur Blank has openly admired the Patriots for a long time and that is one of the reasons he hired Tom Dimitroff. Now he goes and says this:


Arthur Blank said Thursday there is a "general feeling" that the Patriots' failure to acknowledge mistakes added to the punishment they received for deflating footballs.

Hey Arthur, why are you assuming there is some wrongdoing they need to admit?

Witch hunt indeed.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...arthur-blank-failure-to-admit-mistakes-051415

The Gr8est said:

This pisses me off. Arthur Blank has openly admired the Patriots for a long time and that is one of the reasons he hired Tom Dimitroff. Now he goes and says this:


Arthur Blank said Thursday there is a "general feeling" that the Patriots' failure to acknowledge mistakes added to the punishment they received for deflating footballs.

Hey Arthur, why are you assuming there is some wrongdoing they need to admit?

Witch hunt indeed.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...arthur-blank-failure-to-admit-mistakes-051415

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This coming from the man who owns a team guilty of REAL cheating with artificial crowd noise.......and then got off with a ******** fine for something that for years people have speculated teams of doing this and is HIGHLY frowned upon in league rules........Do Hypocrites even realize they are Hypocrites or are they filed under the same group as Multiple Personalities by shrinks?

The Gr8est said:

This pisses me off. Arthur Blank has openly admired the Patriots for a long time and that is one of the reasons he hired Tom Dimitroff. Now he goes and says this:


Arthur Blank said Thursday there is a "general feeling" that the Patriots' failure to acknowledge mistakes added to the punishment they received for deflating footballs.

Hey Arthur, why are you assuming there is some wrongdoing they need to admit?

Witch hunt indeed.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...arthur-blank-failure-to-admit-mistakes-051415

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I don't necessarily think he's assuming there is certain guilt. He's going on the fact that the NFL found them guilty and the the Pats denied everything.

I'm sure there is a "general feeling" that if the Pats were truly guilty and had admitted to it, the penalties wouldn't have been as severe.

rochrist said:

A number of players and front office people have defended the Pats.

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Not many, ro, and not close to enough. Private support in this type of situation, to me, is like a private apology from someone who's publicly skewered you. Gutless and worthless. If anything has been overwhelmingly obvious to me in this whole mess, it's that Kraft, Brady and the Pats have even fewer friends in this f###### league than they or I thought. Goodell and the NFL feel empowered to do all they've done because no one has expressed an opinion that they shouldn't.

Crazy Patriot Guy said:

I don't necessarily think he's assuming there is certain guilt. He's going on the fact that the NFL found them guilty and the the Pats denied everything.

I'm sure there is a "general feeling" that if the Pats were truly guilty and had admitted to it, the penalties wouldn't have been as severe.

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So if they are not guilty what are their options?

Admit something that isn't true and don't get hammered quite as bad?

Profess their innocence and get hammered worse for not admitting their guilt.

Some choice. Too bad there wasn't a third option; be assumed they are innocent until proven guilty.