Jim Donaldson: Many owners "uncomfortable" and pressuring Goodell to settle

From his article today:

From what I’ve learned in conversations this past week with league sources, it appears that, while some team owners still may want Tom Brady and the Patriots punished as severely as possible, a significant number of owners are “uncomfortable” with the way things are going.

With the case scheduled to go to court, the disgruntled owners are losing patience with, and confidence in, Goodell, who mishandled the Ray Rice situation a year ago and now has spent millions building a controversial case against Brady and the Pats, turning the focus away from football and, increasingly, public opinion against the league.

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The league is not looking good, causing an increasing number of team owners to look askance at Goodell’s (mis)handling what has become a sordid situation.

And so they want Goodell to compromise – something I’ve been told that Patriots owner Robert Kraft had been actively encouraging after first acquiescing to accept the stiff punishment of a $1-million fine and the loss of next year’s first-round draft pick for the team’s responsibility for Deflategate.

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http://www.providencejournal.com/ar...RED/st_refDomain=t.co&st_refQuery=/8Pj3UQnwaq

I never bought the theory that 31 other owners loved how Goodell handled this situation. After the last week, there is no way most of them are happy now. You might have a few shortsighted owners who hate the Pats who want to see Brady suffer even if it takes down Goodell with it, but most owners have to look at this and say that even if Goodell wins in court it is a Pyrrhic victory because he and the rest of the league look really bad now.

Let's hope

I also agree with the sentiment that not all 32 are 100% on board with Goody. All they really want himto do is take the bullets and be tough on the NFLPA. I believe a vast majority of them - because they are self-made think that they can run this ship swimmingly without him.

If you look at all the owners, most are self-made and have the business experience that when pooled together can function just fine.

I don't care if the other teams want the NFL to settle. Takes two to tango and I pray Brady is in no mood to dance.

Tom Brady is not interested in settling for the "1 game" the article talks about. Tom Brady pursued this for vindication, not a reduced suspension. This is (fortunately) why there will not be any settlement - many owners falsely believe that both Tom Brady and the Patriots are guilty despite the lack of any direct evidence and unanimity of innocence in the testimony of all the witnesses.

Remember, the total amount of evidence in the Wells report against Tom Brady was 1 misinterpreted email (which was hardly that convicting even in that misintepretation). That is the minimal standard of justice the NFL required for a 4 game suspension.

ChrisR2223 said:

Let's hope

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no settlement. i want the NFL embarrassed by the court.

besides, goodell will say "here is my settlement offer. 3 games for Brady."

TommyBrady12 said:

no settlement. i want the NFL embarrassed by the court.

besides, goodell will say "here is my settlement offer. 3 games for Brady."

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Me too, I want Goodell screwed and all of that stink on park ave cleansed.....but at this point, I'd be very happy with NO games and wording that exonerates. Taking a small slap on the wrist fine would be a small price to pay to end this facade.

TruthSeeker said:

Tom Brady is not interested in settling for the "1 game" the article talks about.

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This. This is a concoction by the BSM, and has somehow been allowed to float around unchallenged as conventional wisdom.

Brady's not taking a game, he never was taking a game, because it's clear he feels he did nothing wrong.

The BSM wants Brady to take a game, because they don't want to talk about it anymore, and it makes their job too hard - because they have to do stuff. Like read.

"Jeff, we've been out here all day!"

That's all you need to know about the ****ing BSM in a nutshell. Whiny bunch of babies. Even some of the better ones out there, like Gasper, are no exception.

I don't think Brady is willing to settle without no games and an exoneration for everything but lack of cooperation. I just like this article because if true, Goodell is continuing to lose support of the owners and this is just another nail in his coffin.

I have said in another thread that unless the Judge makes him turn over transcripts etc. from the Wells investigation and/or communications between Pash and Wells and either they show that Wells and the league manipulated the facts or the league claim attorney-client privilege; there is no way that Goodell gets fired for this. But contrary to the public rhetoric that this whole thing has galvanized the owners behind Goodell, I think this fiasco has just turned many of the owners even farther away from him with Kraft (hs biggest supporter before this) leading the charge.

Talk is cheap. I just the NFL and its owners by their actions.

TruthSeeker said:

Tom Brady is not interested in settling for the "1 game" the article talks about. Tom Brady pursued this for vindication, not a reduced suspension. This is (fortunately) why there will not be any settlement - many owners falsely believe that both Tom Brady and the Patriots are guilty despite the lack of any direct evidence and unanimity of innocence in the testimony of all the witnesses.

Remember, the total amount of evidence in the Wells report against Tom Brady was 1 misinterpreted email (which was hardly that convicting even in that misintepretation). That is the minimal standard of justice the NFL required for a 4 game suspension.

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I think the owners want Goodell to settle for one game because they hope Brady will agree to take it and the League can come out of this in the best possible light they can at this point (which is still pretty beat up and bloody). I don't know if Donaldson thinks that is what Brady is willing to do, but what the owners hope Brady is willing to do.

I think at this point, Brady would rather lose in court and serve the 4 games than take any settlement that includes a game because no matter the wording is the public will take that an admission of guilt. Brady saw that with Bob Kraft. He isn't going to fall in that trap.

I think one game is Goodell's best case scenario if he is being pressured to settle.

farn said:

I don't care if the other teams want the NFL to settle. Takes two to tango and I pray Brady is in no mood to dance.

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One can only hope. If I were wrongly accused as Brady is and subsequently punished, I would walk away from these miserable p***** and enjoy life to the fullest with my wife and kids.

hwc said:

Talk is cheap. I just the NFL and its owners by their actions.

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The problem is that it takes 24 owners to oust Goodell. It will be really tough to get that many votes. Many owners probably hate how he is running things, but are concerned that it would tarnish the League more by firing him than let him continue to mishandle every controversy. Until you get those guys to cave, there will never be any actions that we will see publicly.

But I bet that many of the owners who have publicly supported him are probably privately tired of his BS.

"ample?" ARGH! I'm not sure I understand the journalists calling for Brady to settle. Let's get it all out in the open. uncover everything rotten.

It will be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes at the owners meeting. My prediction is that Rooney, Mara and Goodell come to Kraft with as proposal that for the good of the Shield, he encourage Brady to take the one game suspension. Whether he influences Brady to do it after his bravado statement will go a long way to showing his sincerity in the matter or conversely that it was just a PR move to placate the fan base.

It doesn't mean anything if the judge doesn't side with Brady.
If true, this only materializes into something if Goodell has to answer for Framegate with Brady starting week#1

flasox27 said:

It will be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes at the owners meeting. My prediction is that Rooney, Mara and Goodell come to Kraft with as proposal that for the good of the Shield, he encourage Brady to take the one game suspension. Whether he influences Brady to do it after his bravado statement will go a long way to showing his sincerity in the matter or conversely that it was just a PR move to placate the fan base.

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At this point, Goodell is not going to Kraft to propose anything. Maybe Rooney and Mara will.

And I think Kraft will support Brady to fight this to the end. He will not convince Brady to do anything to trust the league. I think Kraft is smart enough to know that if Brady settles with the league, the NFL will spread rumors that Brady settled because he knows he is guilty.

Kraft may have had too much faith in Goodell in May, but he is not a dumb man. He knows Goodell (or at least the League) burnt him when he capitulated. No way does he encourage Brady to do the same.

Everyone thinks Kraft and Belichick are trying to encourage Brady to end this so it isn't hanging over the team this season. I think both men hates the League office so much right now that they would rather go 0-16 this season as long as Brady wins this than Brady to settle just to focus on the season.

You know what else I don't get? Brady was criticized for a lukewarm denial. If he were really innocent, they said, he'd have denied it in no uncertain terms. Therefore, he's guilty.

Now Brady is saying he's innocent by refusing to settle and all these same journalists are telling him to settle.

It doesn't make sense but then, none of this does.

fgssand said:

Me too, I want Goodell screwed and all of that stink on park ave cleansed.....but at this point, I'd be very happy with NO games and wording that exonerates. Taking a small slap on the wrist fine would be a small price to pay to end this facade.

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I'm OK with that but I wonder if Brady would forfeit his right to file a defamation lawsuit to get that kind of deal.

I know it is selfish on my part but I would love to see the details that came out during the discovery process of a defamation lawsuit.

flasox27 said:

It will be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes at the owners meeting. My prediction is that Rooney, Mara and Goodell come to Kraft with as proposal that for the good of the Shield, he encourage Brady to take the one game suspension. Whether he influences Brady to do it after his bravado statement will go a long way to showing his sincerity in the matter or conversely that it was just a PR move to placate the fan base.

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I really hope it don't happen, I don't want Brady to accept any suspension, fine ok (even though I think it's bs) just to make it go away but no suspension! Not to mention it's being reported all over the place that if Brady accepts any suspension he's accepting guilt.