Roger Goodell has finally done it; he has overseen an investigative process which is nothing less than a vendetta against a team which believes first, foremost and always in integrity.
In reading
http://wellsreportcontext.com/, it is crystal clear that the Patriots both individually and corporately could hardly have been more cooperative and dedicated to fairness and full disclosure. On the other hand, the NFL office and their lackey, Wells and team, reek of partiality, moving the goalposts, obscuring truth, leaking lies, refusing to investigate, breaking their own investigative rules and smearing anyone they wanted (apparently) without any thought that they could be held accountable for their actions.
I believe Robert Kraft has said that this must stop and must stop now.
The first step was the
press conference on Wednesday where Kraft said, "I was wrong to put my faith in the league".
The second step is the updating of the Wells Report Context website with this
email exchange.
I believe the third step will be the action (not just words) that many on this site are screaming far. No, not a lawsuit. But a call to the other NFL owners for a truly fair and impartial investigation into the League office and how they conduct their business that will be made at the August 11th owner's meeting. An investigation that was promised by Roger Goodell but that never happened.
You can't follow this website and this story without realizing how fundamentally unfairly the NFL office has treated the Patriots.
- from not sharing the allegations the day before the game with the Patriots to insure a fair game
- to Mike Kensil telling a Patriots' employee, "you're in big f---ing trouble" at halftime
- to the leaking of totally false information 3 days after the game
- to refusing to correct this false information despite DEMANDS of the Patriots that this be done
- to abusing the investigative process ground rules that were agreed upon to
- to refusing to investigate the League office despite this being a mandate of their mission
- to hiring Exponent, a firm known first and foremost for its willingness to bend any and all facts to fit the whims of their client
- to producing a report that is the most slanted report I've ever read in my life (by far)
- to creating new grounds to find someone guilty (generally aware???)
- to piling assumption upon assumption to reach a conclusion that it was "more probable than not" that balls were deflated by what is ultimately a tiny amount
- to accusing the Patriots of not cooperating when the Patriot organization went well above and beyond any reasonable definition of cooperation and only objected on one point when the Wells team refused to follow their own ground rules of behavior
- to accusing Tom Brady of not cooperating when he also went well above and beyond any reasonable definition of cooperation and only objected to handing over his cell phone (on the advice of lawyers) - and even would have done that had the investigators even hinted that he might be punished for not sharing his cell phone
- to Roger Goodell not handing down the penalty in violation of the CBA
- to Roger Goodell ruling in his own favor without a hearing that he did hand down the penalty
- to Roger Goodell ruling in his own favor without a hearing that he was fit to be the arbitrator
- to telling the NFLPA that they would only have 4 hours to present their appeal defense - and then publicly denying this
- to refusing to share any information about the investigation due to lawyer-client privilege
- to refusing to allow the NFLPA to call relevant witnesses (including the co-lead of the investigation!) in their defense at the appeal
- to using the "destruction" of the phone as a basis for upholding the appeal - something that is not even allowed to be considered in the appeal since it wasn't part of the evidence going into the appeal
- to smearing Tom Brady with the appeal decision headlines that he destroyed his phone knowing full well that they had been given ALL of the relevant data (and more) and had all of the relevant data when the Wells Report was first written
Of course there is more that could be added. But the point is clear - there is a cancer in the NFL offices. We recognize that that cancer starts first and foremost with Roger Goodell as he has personally overseen the process and made many of the fundamentally unfair decisions regarding the process.
This is no longer about deflating footballs. This is about having a fair and impartial process. Bob Kraft put his faith in the League office - and for quite a while, I did too. I actually had confidence as Bob Kraft did that a fair and impartial investigation would be conducted and that the Patriots would be exonerated. We couldn't have been more wrong.
Fair and impartial process. This is where the name Patriots came from. Our forefathers cringed at the unfair process (no taxation without representation) imposed by the mighty British Empire. This is why a revolution was started 240 years ago. And this is why I believe Bob Kraft has started down the path of a revolution in these past few days.
- An investigation into the NFL office MUST be conducted.
- It MUST be fair and impartial.
- When that investigation is done, the (high-level) results MUST be shared with the public.
- Those responsible for creating and enforcing processes that arbitrarily and unfairly punish teams and individuals MUST be held accountable.
- The NFL MUST apologize for any improper actions in the past.
Good luck, Robert Kraft. The hopes of Patriots nation and football fans everywhere are with you.
