Great Grantland article on Kraft selling out Brady

Jlaff said:

Sorry, it's a 4/10, wouldn't bang. The logical leaps he asks the reader to make, such as going Al Davis= Patriots turn into the less than mediocre Raiders on the field (and while claiming it is the only logical choice in the same sentence) is laughable to me.

Plus extra disappointing because I was hoping it was written by Bill Simmons.

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The author is Charlie Pierce from Worcester with whom I went to high school. Charlie has an impressive resume which includes co-authoring a book with Brady around 2006 called "Moving the Chains." There are those in esteemed literary circles who consider him America's best sportswriter. Google him. Impressive. PS: Charlie is one of the world's most accomplished smart-asses and I say that complimentarily.

Charles Pierce.
New day, renewed misery. Sure will be nice to finally die.

I wish I didn't click it.

CP is a good writer. I don't agree with his premise that TFB had something to do with the footballs. But his other main point of the column is spot on.

It's sad that it might be Tom's time to move on from this team after all he has done. I could not blame him.

I was just about to post this article. It makes a great point. Kraft has left Brady twisting in the wind.



Hopefully Brady does not cave in to the pressure and takes the NFL to the mat. He should fight for COMPLETE EXONERATION.

And if Kraft urges Brady behind closed doors to accept Goodell's punishment, I hope Brady respectfully gives him the middle finger!

It's not all bad - he gets at an important point. Kraft hung him out to dry and that the punishment doesn't fit the crime. I look for Tom's sentence to be reduced/eliminated provided he hands over his phone records to Goodell.

I do think this situation is quite interesting - even if it is incredibly unfair to Tom. I'd imagine that Kessler might advise Tom to keep his phone such that can strike retribution in court. His strongest legal attacks are going to revolve around unfair labor, IMHO. And suspending a guy without pay who did nothing wrong outside of not turning over his phone is an absolute dream scenario.

This is the NFLPA big chance to take down the NFL and the entire anti-trust law. But it all hinges on Tom getting screwed over. Judges aren't sympathetic to wife beaters and kid beaters. But the most famous QB in the world being denied work because of some trumped up sting from the owners. Can you imagine Chrysler docking guys because they "might" have screwed on a door handle too loosely? LMAO. I believe Kessler is going to kill them. I am not kidding..

Brady's legacy will be the guy that broke the NFL. So its actually good that Kraft hung him out to dry. Now they can put him on the stand as a hostile witness/co-conspirator. The only tricky bit is getting Tom to go along with this. Because he is near the end - he just might.

Jackson 2 said:

The author is Charlie Pierce from Worcester with whom I went to high school. Charlie has an impressive resume which includes co-authoring a book with Brady around 2006 called "Moving the Chains." There are those in esteemed literary circles who consider him America's best sportswriter. Google him. Impressive. PS: Charlie is one of the world's most accomplished smart-asses and I say that complimentarily.

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I don't agree with him leaping to the conclusion that the Patriots must have cheated (which he did around when the Wells Report came out, IIRC). That said, he is a fantastic sportswriter, and is an unabashed Pats fan.

Not going to give them a click, but only because I don't want to support a Simmons-less Grantland. Since CA courts have ruled non-competes basically unenforceable, I'm waiting for Simmons to make his own site, and hopefully bring the whole crew with him.

Jackson 2 said:

The author is Charlie Pierce from Worcester with whom I went to high school. Charlie has an impressive resume which includes co-authoring a book with Brady around 2006 called "Moving the Chains."

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Brady had absolutely nothing to do with that book. It was written without any authorization or cooperation from Brady at all.

QuantumMechanic said:

Brady had absolutely nothing to do with that book. It was written without any authorization or cooperation from Brady at all.

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I believe you're mistaken. On pages 9-10 of the introduction Pierce describes a conversation with Brady, quotes included, where he asks Brady if he has a problem with a book being written about him. Brady responds saying the only reservation he has is whether or not he (Brady) is old enough to have a book written about him. I was incorrect saying it was coauthored by Brady. But, I believe he cooperated quite fully with it.

Pierce's smarmy superior style of condescension permeates his writing. He's style over substance.

Fencer said:

Totally unsupported in the article. Hence it's not a good article at all.

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My problem as well. The article blindly writes it is important Kraft "remain influential" or end up like the Al Davis Raiders.

The Raiders won the Super Bowl while Davis was suing the NFL. The fact he ended up a senile fool making ridiculous deals on individual preferences in the end had nothing to do with fighting the NFL. That was absolutely a product of internal organizational leadership.

Pierce writes that the most disproportionate element is the four game suspension. I disagree. The most disproportionate element is the justification the NFL used to open a major investigation. They lied to the media about the balls being 2 psi below regulation. They lied to the Pats about a ball being 10.1. They used these lies to sway public opinion to justify an investigation despite the truth being the balls averaged 11.49 or 1.01 below which is what they should have been as per the IGL.

Using lies to convince people a crime occurred. Then later concocting evidence as proof of a crime and using weak circumstantial evidence to imply guilt of their target. These are the tactics that corrupt, ruthless, evil dictators use to get rid of people. This is disproportionate.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Pierce's smarmy superior style of condescension permeates his writing. He's style over substance.

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I agree. Charlie Pierce is just a I'm-better-than-you-because-I-don't-really-like-sports-I-just-write-about-it,
smug, Taxachusetts libtard.

When both were at the Herald, Michael Gee penned rings around this Dan LeBastard gweep.