Wetzel: Patriots were naive to walk into Goodell's trap

It's worth a read

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-to...ger-goodell-s-trap-is-baffling-161339870.html

This wasn't a court of law – and any federal action won't be either; that will be waged over procedures and authority. This was the court of public opinion, and every action, every deal, every day of not owning the story was just as important as the actual facts around this confusing and mostly overblown controversy. This was politics, hardcore and ugly.

This is how the NFL operates under Roger Goodell. This is how the NFL has long operated under Roger Goodell. It's pro wrestling.

How the heck Kraft and Brady didn't see that, how they walked right into the trap and thus never really stood a chance to make their case is baffling.

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I don't think they really walked into anything. Brady has done everything he could do from the beginning and Kraft thought he was doing what he always did, make friends and settle out of court. The league is operating in a predictably unpredictable matter. The only person who made a mistake was Kraft but I think now he's officially drawn his line in the sand.

The main difference between the NFL and wrestling here is that the players are covered by the union, and in wrestling they're independent contractors (which is, all in all, pretty heinous). The issue lies with the CBA, which ceded to Goodell the right to be judge, jury, and executioner. It probably seemed like an okay trade-off during negotiations, but the consequences have been spectacular, and, in hindsight, eminently predictable. The trap was laid long ago; Brady, a member of the union, could do naught but walk into it.

It isn't over. The court of public opinion will be the last one to make its judgement. Over the course of a few months, the nation went from, "Brady's a cheater!" to, "wait, so what exactly is he guilty of, again?" Now we just took a step back to, "Brady destroyed his phone! What does that mean?"

I see this as an easy mountain to climb. I mean, look at the turnaround after 1 day (Brady and Kraft's public statements).

I do agree in the sense that A) BB's press conference was the Patriots most aggressive moment during this mess, and they needed more of that. B) Kraft is a fool. C) Team Brady has arguably been outplayed pretty badly in the past 24 hours, if not through the cell phone story, then through the whole preemptive filing in NY the league is trying. Honestly though, to me this whole thing was lost (for now!!!!) the moment Kraft dropped the threat of the team suing. Brady's fight is bounded to the NFLPA vs NFL mechanics. Kraft could have brought the nukes. Which is why his mea culpa today is too little way too late.

Schmo said:

It isn't over. The court of public opinion will be the last one to make its judgement. Over the course of a few months, the nation went from, "Brady's a cheater!" to, "wait, so what exactly is he guilty of, again?" Now we just took a step back to, "Brady destroyed his phone! What does that mean?"

I see this as an easy mountain to climb. I mean, look at the turnaround after 1 day (Brady and Kraft's public statements).

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I only worry that it can be hard to overturn an arbitration decision in the courts. If the courts don't overturn the decision (which will be based on procedural issues) what more can Brady do (besides profess his innocence which he has already done)?

WelL gee whiz. I said yesterday the the Pats were one step behind the Court of Public Perception n posters dismissed its importance

I agree that the Patriots are poor at the PR war and should have slammed early and often. The NFL's weak point was the lie in the Gardi letter, the Mort leak and not releasing the figures leaving the patriots twisting in the wind. These are what turned many members of the press around and got them to look under the covers. These are the clearest cases of the leagues lack of integrity.

first......screw the court of public opinion......that went to crap in 2007 anyway

second......with the first point in mind, does the league notion of integrity is going behind another teams back to undermine them seem like the thing to do? If I was anyother team in the league, I'd be scared ****less to have the pats start looking at it that way (if they aren't already)

or are we just talking about another 'eff you' season?

Reads pretty well, but smacks of Monday-morning Quarterbacking.

Why in the world SHOULD Brady and the Pats have expected this overblown sh**storm in the beginning?

It boggles the mind, beyond belief.

This is similar to the Game of Thrones. The Patriots are acting like the Starks expecting integrity and character to persevere while Goodell and his minions are acting like the Lannisters and winning through deceit and corruption.

The Patriots have been mostly flat-footed – failing to go on the offensive other than Bill Belichick's passionate scientific rant the week before the Super Bowl. It was New England's best moment, and it's not surprising that Belichick may have been the only one in Foxborough who fully understood how this was going down.

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IAm sure kraft stopped BB during the videotaping incident from going on the offensive. We repeated the same mistake this time too believing in the NFL process.But to be fair, they didnt have PSI readings until late so they never had a chance to figure out it was false.But they couldve 'leaked' the actual readings once the league said not to release them.

NashuaPats said:

This is similar to the Game of Thrones. The Patriots are acting like the Starks expecting integrity and character to persevare while Goodell and his minions are acting like the Lannisters and winning through deceit and corruption.

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All the Lannisters except Tyrion. I really like Tyrion...

Exactly n

NashuaPats said:

This is similar to the Game of Thrones. The Patriots are acting like the Starks expecting integrity and character to persevare while Goodell and his minions are acting like the Lannisters and winning through deceit and corruption.

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exactly Total nativity
N What happened to Starks head?

Honestly this entire thing reminds me of one really bad episode of Game of Thrones where everybody knows they are playing the game except one naive leader and his people. It's the red wedding and the Patriots were massacred.

Kraft definitely was naive on this one. I think he trusted his friend, Roger, to give them a fair process without realizing that once this blew up, he had an agenda to save his own ass by burying the Patriots.

TriplecHamp said:

I don't think they really walked into anything. Brady has done everything he could do from the beginning and Kraft thought he was doing what he always did, make friends and settle out of court. The league is operating in a predictably unpredictable matter. The only person who made a mistake was Kraft but I think now he's officially drawn his line in the sand.

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I disagree with you about Brady.

Honestly, I don't see how so many idol-worshippers still say he has a great politcial future at the national level. He just isn't the brightest bulb in the box (outside of the football field). He has been his own worst enemy, straight from that 1st presser about this 'Golly gee, I don't THINK I'm a cheater...." to destroying a phone he never had to even hand over. He would get eaten alive in a 90 minute political debate.

Kraft has also been just as naive and spineless as Wetzel portrayed.

The only one who has knocked the ball out of the park all the way through has been Belichick. Belichick has been cool hand luke and has directly addressed the situation in a masterful way.

The other two have fumbled repeatedly.

PatsGuy said:

WelL gee whiz. I said yesterday the the Pats were one step behind the Court of Public Perception n posters dismissed its importance

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It's hard to manage public perception when our own local news reporters are throwing us under a bus. And, for reasons I don't fully understand, the worst of them do the best in the ratings game.

The only thing that will change the opinion of the public is the ball data being collected before and during the games, imo. We are were we are until then.

shmessy said:

I disagree with you about Brady.

Honestly, I don't see how so many idol-worshippers still say he has a great politcial future at the national level. He just isn't the brightest bulb in the box (outside of the football field). He has been his own worst enemy, straight from that 1st presser about this 'Golly gee, I don't THINK I'm a cheater...." to destroying a phone he never had to even hand over. He would get eaten alive in a 90 minute political debate.

Kraft has also been just as naive and spineless as Wetzel portrayed.

The only one who has knocked the ball out of the park all the way through has been Belichick. Belichick has been cool hand luke and has directly addressed the situation in a masterful way.

The other two have fumbled repeatedly.

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I think we're operating from two different points. I don't think Brady could have"knocked the ball" out of the park and I don't think the Patriots were ever going to win a public relations battle against the NFL and the fans of 31 other teams who don't like us very much. Sure the NFL can play politics, just like Donald Trump is leading the Republic candidates. Actually that kind of works in this situation.


The NFL is Donald Trump. He's popular with the people, and he has little to no substance. On the actual stage when it comes to laying out facts, Brady will win.