PFT: Settlement Talks Have Taken Place

Deus Irae said:

The NFL has so little integrity that it will uphold penalties it doesn't believe can survive court challenges, and must know are not supported by the evidence, rather than doing the right thing?

Click to expand...

Injustice should be Goodells catch phrase.

I kinda wish Tagliabue would take this whole thing like he did with the Saints and come to the conclusion that Goodell is really full of ****.

NJPatsfan26 said:

Injustice should be Goodells catch phrase.

I kinda wish Tagliabue would take this whole thing like he did with the Saints and come to the conclusion that Goodell is really full of ****.

Click to expand...

Tags smacked the hell out of Goodell once already. I doubt Goodell will ever willingly give him an opportunity to do it again.

Deus Irae said:

Tags smacked the hell out of Goodell once already. I doubt Goodell will ever willingly give him an opportunity to do it again.

Click to expand...

yeah good point

wishful thinking

ViperGTS said:

"Per the source, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is being pushed by a small handful of influential owners to hold firm on the four-game suspension. Working against that pressure, however, is the fear that the four-game suspension would be wiped out by a federal court."

Thoughts on who those "owners" are?

My guesses:
Irsay
Biscotti
Jones
Allen

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/22/settlement-talks-have-occurred-in-brady-case/

Click to expand...

Whoever that group of owners is, I guess they don't subscribe to all that "for the good of the league" and "32 partners working together" BS.

Plus, it must be nice for them to use Goodell to screw over a "partner" while they sit back in anonymity. And in a logic defying twist, they convinced Kraft that he's the bad guy and he needs to accept his team's punishment to get back into their good graces.

SVN said:

http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/roger-goodell-has-no-path-out-of-deflategate

Click to expand...

So this Levy guy who PFT says is warning Goodell that he screwed up was Goodell's rival for the job, and is a law partner of Goodell's predecessor. Hmm ...

Tunescribe said:

The more Kraft's capitulation rolls around in my head the worse I feel. Kraft is a multi-billionaire. He can do pretty much anything he wants in life 'til he dies WITHOUT the NFL. It's not like defying the NFL and losing would put him in the poor house or anything. Why not take a bold stand against injustice even if it's a losing proposition for the sake of the fans and the honor of his franchise? So what if he loses? It would make him a New England sports legend forever.

Click to expand...

Sadly, he made it pretty clear that he doesn't care about what the fans think. We're just dollar signs to him. Brady is just another employee to him.

The Patriots franchise was an extraordinarily successful investment for Kraft. The other owners are his business partners. He wants that gravy train to keep rolling. THAT's what matters to him.

It really sucks as a fan to have to face this reality, but that IS the reality.

yeah...I picked up on that too, Fencer.

Remember...Lucky Luciano went to work for Joe The Boss Masseria as his 2nd in command...a decision fat Joe eventually came to regret...just before the hit men emptied their guns in his corpulent body.

This leak, if true, means some of the owners are pushing their own agenda and not in line with Goodell's decision. Then again, why would they be involved in Goodell's arbitration process?

Perhaps the NFL just blinked?

Goodell shouldn't even be talking to the owners about an appeal he's deciding. If he's listening to the owners on individual player appeals then this man is a joke and has no balls. I say that with all the respect in the world for the integrity of the game

"Settlement" better mean full exoneration. I'll be extremely disappointed if Brady "settles" for 1-2 games.

I call BS. It's like saying "there was talk of a settlement" when only one side inquired about it. League "how about this, Tom ?" - Tom "no" - there was talk of a settlement...

None of us can ever believe any stories about this stupid, ridiculous incident. It started with the lies from Mort and hasn't gotten any more reliable since.

5thRing-Hunt said:

Goodell shouldn't even be talking to the owners about an appeal he's deciding. If he's listening to the owners on individual player appeals then this man is a joke and has no balls. I say that with all the respect in the world for the integrity of the game

Click to expand...

Bingo! How the hell can an impartial decision be based on what the accusers want? This sh!t just shows no signs of intelligence. Un F ing real

ausbacker said:

For one reason or another, this "settlement" speech rings loud and clear in my ears. @Off The Grid will approve I'm sure.

"Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse."

Anything less than a full exoneration for Tom Brady and the NFL can whistle dixie.

Click to expand...

Preach It, Brother AusBacker!!

supafly said:

Rooney
Mara

Click to expand...

Kraft.

The only way to get out of this for Goodell is to hold all penalties in abeyance, and do a league wide longitudinal study of all footballs in the 2015 season.. the science is nice, it cannot replicate game and atmospheric conditions.. postpone everything until this study is completed.. both parties would have to agree upon who does the study as well.

There can be rumors of some sort of negotiations, but anything more than a small fine is completely unacceptable..

Of course, Goodell can allow it to go to Federal Court and then it is out of his hands, but that will not escape the scrutiny of the owners who will look at Goodell with a "crooked eye" regarding the money spent and lack of "common sense" decision making... it would be sad for the commish to blame the Court.

Brady going to Court could have long term implications for the NFL, particularly as it relates to standard of evidence, due process and conflict of interest.. the NFL also does not want "discovery" to show their inner workings... The NFLPA and Brady have "deep pockets" and could depose everyone in the NFL offices who had any knowledge of their corrupt practices..

5thRing-Hunt said:

Goodell shouldn't even be talking to the owners about an appeal he's deciding. If he's listening to the owners on individual player appeals then this man is a joke and has no balls. I say that with all the respect in the world for the integrity of the game

Click to expand...

Here's a thought. If it is does go to court, have the NFLPA depose every single owner to have them testify under oath whether they contacted Goodell to keep the suspension at 4 games. Should the arbiter be consulting with those owners who have a vested interest in keeping Brady off the field for as long as possible????
If the standard for the court to throw out the punishment is to show that the process is flawed, what better way than to show that it was a sham and that the individual acting as judge, jury and executioner acted with
"the appearance of impropriety". In a court of law, no attorney is allowed to privately contact/lobby a judge ('ex parte communication") without the other side being present, why should it be allowed in this case?
I'd pay to see Irsay and a few of the other clowns testify. Their lawyers, who would be at their sides would earn their keep that day.

Kraft for all his vaunted influence must be the least influential member of the fraternity. If you don't stand up to the bully, you will continue to be bullied.He is really a pathetic sight commanding no rrspect among his peers

It's insane that owners are allegedly trying to influence the punishment for a player from another team

From the ineffective bone-headed commissioner to the corrupt biased league officials to the entitled good-ol' boys group of owners, the NFL has got to be the most screwed up organization in the US

What's the old proverb, "there's no one blinder than he who just won't see". It appears that that applies to Bob Kraft and his dealings with the other owners. While he thought he was taking the high road, " for the good of the league", those guys were going all Brutus on him...
He needs to re-watch The G-dfather movies a few times and follow the themes of "keeping your friends close but your enemies closer" and " it's business, strictly business". They are not your friends and while they help make you money (the Hyman Roth character) they are out for your head and are trying to screw you.
How many times do you have to get pummeled by the commissioner unfairly ( especially when he imposes a gag clause to prevent you from defending yourself) before you unload and say, you've had it and you're mad as hell......?


You negotiate from a position of strength. Let them think that you are just crazy enough to go nuclear (or Al Davis-like) and see what it gets you. Obviously being the whipping boy isn't working....Sometimes as a boss, you have to be a pr*ck....(sorry for the crudeness) no other way around it.

movie references complete...

Fencer said:

To the extent this is reasonably true, it DOES support the theory that Kraft was correct not to fight on legally or administratively.

Such a view does NOTHING to exonerate him in terms of what he's said (or more precisely hasn't said) publicly. He should have stuck by the public stance of "This is a terrible injustice!", rather than switching to "Let's put this all behind us and move on."

But it's fair to say that public statements and PR were the only form of fighting-on that could be demanded of him.

Click to expand...

I guess I'll have to look at the tape, but didn't he characterize the punishment as unjust and undeserved?