Let's all forgive Bob Kraft

rochrist · Jul 29, 2015

I'd like to see some action taken at the first game. Refusing to participate in the league's glitzy opening night extravaganza would be a good start. I seriously doubt Goodell has the balls to show up in person, but if he did, not letting him in Kraft's box would be nice as well.

Tunescribe · Jul 29, 2015

Rob0729 said:
Odds are if there are any actions, we won't see it. My guess is Kraft will be working other owners to turn them against Goodell. All the talk that Goodell won over the owners with Deflategate rulings, is short-lived. It isn't like owners who were shaky on Goodell all the sudden thinks he is great because he came down hard on the Pats. They may happy as pigs in crap right now, but the next time Goodell does something unpopular they will be against him again.

I seriously doubt Kraft will sue the league. Just isn't his style. His forte and best way for revenge is his negotiation skills working the owners one on one or in small groups and staging a coupe. It isn't instant gratification, but may be a more effective revenge against Goodell, Pash, Kensil, and others. A lawsuit is a loser for the league unless they can uncover a smoking gun like who leaked the 2 PSI bogus rumor to Mortensen.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Kraft is done with his statement. But his best way he knows how to attack is working the phones and handshake deals, not going to court. Right or wrong.

If he truly means what he said today, he should go to court over the draft picks. That gesture alone would make him a BIG winner, even if the actual lawsuit fails miserably.

JR4 · Jul 29, 2015

I don't forgive him because never thought he did anything wrong.
He said at the time he wanted to end the rhetoric. As he said today he wanted
get the focus back on football.
Even though he never publicly said it, I have always thought he withdrew to make it easier for Tom to win his appeal. He confirmed that today. Nothing to forgive here.

PatsFanSince74 · Jul 29, 2015

I appreciate what Kraft said today, but, as my mama taught me years ago, "Actions speak louder than words."

Bob Kraft didn't build a multi-billion dollar empire from scratch without getting down in the trenches and fighting dirty from time to time. I'm waiting to see if he's ready to do that in this case.

I don't know what it will entail, but the other guys are clearly playing in the mud. I am pretty sure he has the street smarts to figure out what he has to do to respond in kind. I just don't know if he's really prepared to do so.

Otherwise, it was just a bunch of rhetoric.

rochrist · Jul 29, 2015

Tunescribe said:
If he truly means what he said today, he should go to court over the draft picks. That gesture alone would make him a BIG winner, even if the actual lawsuit fails miserably.

What does 'go to court over the draft picks' actually mean? I'm not sure there IS any way to go to court over the draft picks. On what grounds?

Rob0729 · Jul 29, 2015

Tunescribe said:
If he truly means what he said today, he should go to court over the draft picks. That gesture alone would make him a BIG winner, even if the actual lawsuit fails miserably.

Unfortunately, I don't even know if he can. If it is written in the bye laws that he had the option to appeal the decision by a certain date, the fact that he didn't may have stopped him from the ability to sue over the punishment. In arbitration cases, the courts won't hear a case until you exhaust every avenue in the CBA. If this is the case with the owner bylaws, Kraft may have blown the chance to sue because he never explored every avenue available to him to remedy it. And now he cannot.

I am no lawyer though.

Patsfanin Philly · Jul 29, 2015

My gut says Kraft thinks he had an agreement (wink/nod- verbal- mutual understanding) quid pro quo that he wouldn't appeal or sue and Brady would get a lighter punishment. Goodell reneged and now he feels betrayed..No kidding, you deal with the devil, you get burned........
If he goes all Rambo on the league with more public comments like today and actions to back it up, I will reassess my opinion and give him an "everybody screws up once" excuse this time...

PatsFanSince74 · Jul 29, 2015

Tunescribe said:
If he truly means what he said today, he should go to court over the draft picks. That gesture alone would make him a BIG winner, even if the actual lawsuit fails miserably.

Court schmourt! Let Brady and the NFLPA go to court.

It's time for someone on our side to play dirty. When your opponent is playing dirty, you have to respond in kind. I'm not close enough to the situation to know what that means in this case, but somehow I think Kraft can figure it out for himself...

TheBostonStraggler · Jul 29, 2015

RobAllan said:
BS Not forgiven at all. Super convenient for him to say all this now that the other owners are appeased. He's talking out both sides of his mouth the exact darn same as he was before. Don't buy it. He'd do the same damn thing again in a heartbeat. Don't believe it? Remember he'd ALREADY DONE THIS BEFORE with cameragate.

It's a dog and pony show at best. At worst it's even more offensive than when he rolled over.

In case you missed it, the whole thing is a dog and pony show.

Kraft Fd up with the previous dog and pony show. He is back on point with this dog and pony show. For anyone who has never F'd up - I guess you are safe to continue to hate Kraft with full righteousness. For everyone else a little soul searching may be in order here...
There are 31 teams, an incredibly powerful NFL front office, a insanely expensive legal team, and the biggest sports mouth pieces in the business who want Brady to now deep fry to a crisp. Tom is David and his foes are Golaith times 10. So we want Brady having 32 teams against him instead of 31? Puhlease. Kraft gave a scathing rebuke of the league office today/yesterday. This under any cikcrumstances is a welcome turn of events. I don't understand why that can't be happily taken at face value that at least one powerful NFL person is publicly supporting Brady (Brady's only friend in the NFL exec.ownership offices).

Deus Irae · Jul 29, 2015

patriot1136 said:
Though I'm not totally happy/satisfied, I do forgive Kraft. The entire situation is very complex and has many layers we don't even know about. It's not the same, but all of the NFL owners are in a situation almost like Congress: lots of money, egos, and bs politics involved. I'm ready to move on to Pittsburgh. And more importantly, start prepping for the Indy game, we need to score at least 50 on them.

TheBeers said:
Very strong statement by Bob, I forgive him. I still wish he had said nothing back in May.. But I accept his apology.

Perfect examples of how people are suckers. Bob wins. He gets away with throwing Tom Brady under the bus because people will buy just about anything.

Good job guys.

Deus Irae · Jul 29, 2015

signbabybrady said:
Kraft said "I should not have had faith in the League"

That is an extremely powerful statement.

No, it's not. It's sucker bait. You bit.

PatsFanSince74 · Jul 29, 2015

Patsfanin Philly said:
My gut says Kraft thinks he had an agreement (wink/nod- verbal- mutual understanding) quid pro quo that he wouldn't appeal or sue and Brady would get a lighter punishment. Goodell reneged and now he feels betrayed..No kidding, you deal with the devil, you get burned........
If he goes all Rambo on the league with more public comments like today and actions to back it up, I will reassess my opinion and give him an "everybody screws up once" excuse this time...

If he's really engaged, what he does won't be in public and wouldn't be for the faint of heart.

SalemPats · Jul 29, 2015

Patsfanin Philly said:
My gut says Kraft thinks he had an agreement (wink/nod- verbal- mutual understanding) quid pro quo that he wouldn't appeal or sue and Brady would get a lighter punishment. Goodell reneged and now he feels betrayed..No kidding, you deal with the devil, you get burned........
If he goes all Rambo on the league with more public comments like today and actions to back it up, I will reassess my opinion and give him an "everybody screws up once" excuse this time...

He needs to go on a strong offensive by suing the league. He needs to start attacking Goodell, hiring PIs against him, going after him hardcore. The aim should be to embarass Goodell, further ruin his image and go after the owners like Biscotti and Irsay. This is war and we need to be vicious. Our aim should not be to win, but too ultimately destroy

resdubwhite · Jul 29, 2015

rochrist said:
. I seriously doubt Goodell has the balls to show up in person, but if he did, not letting him in Kraft's box would be nice as well.

not sure if double entandre

PatsFanSince74 · Jul 29, 2015

patriot1136 said:
Though I'm not totally happy/satisfied, I do forgive Kraft. The entire situation is very complex and has many layers we don't even know about. It's not the same, but all of the NFL owners are in a situation almost like Congress: lots of money, egos, and bs politics involved. I'm ready to move on to Pittsburgh. And more importantly, start prepping for the Indy game, we need to score at least 50 on them.

I disagree. This is not about forgiveness. I don't care about forgiveness. When you get treated the way the Patriots and Brady got treated, it's all about revenge and it's not about playing nice anymore. I don't care how he gets it, but I think he understands that and I hope he's going after it.

Tunescribe · Jul 29, 2015

rochrist said:
What does 'go to court over the draft picks' actually mean? I'm not sure there IS any way to go to court over the draft picks. On what grounds?

Break ranks and sue the league over a contrived, unfounded violation and draconian penalty. Go Al Davis on 'em. It's been discussed here before but dismissed as futile.

upstater1 · Jul 29, 2015

rochrist said:
What does 'go to court over the draft picks' actually mean? I'm not sure there IS any way to go to court over the draft picks. On what grounds?

There are always grounds when your business loses assets unfairly. So it's not a matter of what legitimates a lawsuit. It's a matter of what appeals process he has, since he has signed his rights away in his agreements with the NFL.

XLIX · Jul 29, 2015

wolverinejoe80 said:
ok, that did it. He is off the list. Great job, mr. kraft. I forgive you.

I know I am late to the party and I haven't read these 7 pages, but I agree with the sentiments in the title.

The Prodigal Son hath returned home. Our brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.

More importantly, he knows what a disgusting backstabbing SOB Goodell is.

patfanken · Jul 29, 2015

I'm glad Bob took the time to read my post in the Team Statement thread. It may not be an exact restatement, but I guess he got the gist. Who knows if Bob will take the next step and pass the torch to Jonathan. I hope does it soon.

But at any rate, Bob just took the FIRST step to forgiveness for his massive error in judgment. I was
his biggest fan prior to that error, and one of his worst critics after. He built up a lot of positive Karma over the last 20 years that shouldn't be forgotten, but I what he did was heinous. Good start, Bob, but its just a start.

BTW - If you missed it this was the speech I suggested.

I realize now that I made a critical mistake in accepting the Commissioner's penalties on behalf of the Patriots organization. I sincerely felt at the time it would be the wisest choice to quiet the rhetoric, and allow the team to refocus on the coming year.

Clearly subsequent events have proven I was wrong, and played into the hands of elements within the league office and a few self interested owners who only care about their own agendas and damaging the legacy I have worked to build for the previous 2o years. These are people who failed to prevail on the field, so they decided to attempt to take us down with this charade of a scandal.

I was misled into thinking that I was working for what I THOUGHT was the entire league's best interests. Instead I put my organization, Tom Brady and Bill Bellichick in an even worse position and played into the hands of some malicious enemies of both the Patriots and the ultimate long term health of the entire league."

Two of the reasons the Patriots have been the most successful team of the last 2 decades is that we stress the value of accountability and to "do your job". Well sadly I didn't do MY job, and its time to make myself accountable. As of this moment I am stepping down as CEO of the NE Patriots and handing over the reins to my capable son, Jonathan.

I want to thank all our fans for their support over theses past 20+ years. They have been some of the best years of my life."

Except for the "resignation" part, I think it was pretty close.

nabwong · Jul 29, 2015

I believed Bob. I'll believe it more when he sues the league.

Let's all forgive Bob Kraft

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