Tom Curran interview with Dan Patrick

Collective good of 32 > tarnishing image of the franchise with loss of draft picks and fine.

ctpatsfan77 said:

And, apparently, he was under the mistaken belief that accepting the penalties would likely make things easier on Brady.

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I think that was a part of it and I'm sure it's what he tells himself daily, but imo his real reason was getting the cold shoulder from the rest of the billionaire boys club at the owners meeting. He believes his real legacy is as the MAN WHO SAVED FOOTBALL and becoming the new Al Davis was something he simply couldn't stand, so he caved to get back into the club. I do think he believed he had a deal with Goodell and Goodell reneged but imo whatever deal he had was more in his mind than reality.

primetime said:

I don't know why this is so surprising to anyone. The commissioner works for the owners, the league exists to make money for the owners, not to make money for the players or to entertain fans except insofar as that's necessary for continued profit.

The relationship between owner and player is, in the final analysis, one of employer and employee. You hear it all the time, "It's just a business." Why should anyone have expected Kraft to stand on the side of his employee against an ownership collective of which he himself is part?

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Kraft has now declared that he is siding with his player against the Goodell and the other owners. Just so it's clear.

BradyFTW! said:

Is there a specific name for when someone's explicitly stated why they did something, but because it doesn't fit your preconceived narrative you pretend they didn't and continue to baselessly speculate? Because this case has had tons of examples of just that, your example being an especially good one.

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Bob is on record as saying that he put down the guns for the good of the 32 and that he thought it would help TB12 with his appeal.

He had clear benefits in mind when he did what he did. That is also a certainty.

As I've speculated, one of those benefits is money. NFL owners are driven by money. Bob is no different.

TruthSeeker said:

Kraft has now declared that he is siding with his player against the Goodell and the other owners. Just so it's clear.

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Words are nice.

AndyJohnson said:

Ken,
This is ridiculous. Belichick was already cleared. Goodell cannot go back in time and change the wells report and then add punishment because Kraft objects.

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Ridiculous? Was it ridiculous that the Bountygate
report cleared Sean Payton of any knowledge of the "scheme", and THEN gave him a year's suspension because he "should have known". So don't tell me that Goodell and his cronies couldn't have pulled THAT chestnut out of the fire at anytime prior to Kraft's announcement and used it as leverage at some point during the Welles investigation and beyond

Goodell is an idiot, not a guy you portray as cunning and domineering.

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Goodell is evil. He is self-serving, ruthless, and devious. He's also a **** sucking scumbag. He is a LOT of things I'd like to call him INCLUDING "an idiot" But he isn't stupid or maybe the people around him aren't stupid because they manufactured a scandal out of whole cloth, out of NOTHING, and 8 months later still seem to winning. So we shouldn't underestimate the man as much as we despise him..

The other owners told Kraft that protecting the power they have over the players is all that matters, and challenging his punishment sends a message that players can too.

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I think that is only partially true, Andy. A big part of it IS all about the Patriots. I believe that other Owners look and what the Pats have done for so long and REALLY believe that they MUST be doing something wrong to be able to accomplish what they can't accomplish. Remember they are all grade A alpha males with tendencies to narcissism and egomania. So they would tend to think that if they can't do it, no one should be.....without tilting the scales.

And then there are the guys who have felt the wrath of Roger and remember that Kraft was right beside Goodell while they were getting hammered. You'd think more than a few took it personal and were willing to overlook small things like "evidence" in order for the chance to stick it to Kraft and his team.

Bottom line: I have know idea what happened over those first months that led Bob Kraft to capitulate to the League. I've read many of the possibilities people have offered. The best I can come up with is that they are "part" of the reason. However I just can't think that its all of it. Knowing now what I know about the dynamics of this case, I have to believe that Goodell was holding SOME kind of leverage over Kraft other than, "it's for the good of the league". I don't know if it was a BB suspension or more games for Brady, or more draft picks, or maybe just pictures of him and his girlfriend. But I believe it was something more than what we are hearing.

BTW- what's up with the the big red "disagree" button. I mean c'mon Andy, if people used that every time they disagreed with your posts you'd have a thousand of those things (and so would I). Now I probably should be more mature and not let those things bother me, but it hits me like a big "you suck" button.

When I disagree strongly with someone I reply and tell them why. That's just what you did and I appreciate it..... (except for the big red "you suck button" ) I'm always willing to engage with reasonably open minded people who can disagree without being insulting.

I would say this to those who that think Kraft capitulated to benefit Brady or save BB. When has appeasing a bully ever worked to your benefit. In didn't work in 2007 and it didn't work now. It sure won't work in the future when they come after BB. I believe that Kraft's true feelings are expressed in his statement that the good of the 32 is more important that the good of the one which is absolutely true financially. First and foremost Kraft is an impeccable businessman. Unfortunately, I think Kraft is the only owner that feels that way regarding the on-field competition. I believe that his Mea Culpa was just a recognition that the fans did not feel the same way as him and he did not want to get a rude reception at the first game and does not change his true belief.

flasox27 said:

I would say this to those who that think Kraft capitulated to benefit Brady or save BB. When has appeasing a bully ever worked to your benefit. In didn't work in 2007 and it didn't work now. It sure won't work in the future when they come after BB. I believe that Kraft's true feelings are expressed in his statement that the good of the 32 is more important that the good of the one which is absolutely true financially. First and foremost Kraft is an impeccable businessman. Unfortunately, I think Kraft is the only owner that feels that way regarding the on-field competition. I believe that his Mea Culpa was just a recognition that the fans did not feel the same way as him and he did not want to get a rude reception at the first game and does not change his true belief.

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It reminds me of some nation that will denounce the USA to their people while at the same time working closely with The USA behind the scenes. It's simply trying to have it both ways.

BradyFTW! said:

Is there a specific name for when someone's explicitly stated why they did something, but because it doesn't fit your preconceived narrative you pretend they didn't and continue to baselessly speculate? Because this case has had tons of examples of just that, your example being an especially good one.

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Is this to me, because Kraft didn't explicitly say he did it for money. He didn't even suggest it.

I'm taking Bob at his word.

Bobsyouruncle said:

Is this to me, because Kraft didn't explicitly say he did it for money. He didn't even suggest it.

I'm taking Bob at his word.

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Nah, it's to all the people questioning Brady and Kraft's motives when they've explicitly stated them.

AndyJohnson said:

I will say it again, as I have said all along, I think it is blatantly obvious.

Kraft disputing Goodell is not acceptable to the league, because the league wants Goodell to have supreme power over the players to hold them down.
Goodell does what he wants, and the owners have to show deference and not object because doing otherwise would show a weakening of their resolve in Goodell as the almighty, which they need him positioned as to keep the players down.

The conversation was very simple.

Bob, its too bad for you, but its us against the players, and you cannot cast aspersions on the judgment of the commissioner, because that will weaken the 32 against their prime enemy, the players.

Kraft needed to have the balls to stand up to that and be the leader who showed them this approach will lead to their own doom, but he instead played lap dog.

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...And, most importantly, he backed GoTohell when dipshit screwed other owners. Big mistake. And we all knew, and didn't like it. But to cave like he did (again)? Man, I just want someone to break rank and save the GAME for the FANS. You know the ones who paid for this empire. They just wont give up the almighty dollar. They all obey their version of the 10 commandments of Cosa Nostra. We need a "Sammy the Bull".

letekro said:

There is no internal appeals process for clubs.

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Actually, I think there is. But there's nothing like a CBA to interfere with Goodell re-affirming his own decisions, so the process is pointless.

Fencer said:

Actually, I think there is. But there's nothing like a CBA to interfere with Goodell re-affirming his own decisions, so the process is pointless.

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Yup, just fill out the official Roger Goodell appeals application below.

Oswlek said:

In fact, the opposite is true. He was so committed to Brady that he thought throwing the team under the bus would facilitate Tom's exoneration. You can question the reasoning behind that, but the motivation is unimpeachable.

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I'm not sure about unimpeachable, but in my mind it makes sense

Right or wrong the other owners wanted some blood out of this and Kraft sought to end it by accepting something, to get Brady off and playing. Strategically from a playing standpoint, creating a situation where Brady personally could be exonerated even if the perception of someone on the team doing something would remain may have appeared to be the better choice

Of course we all know the rest and how corrupt Goodell is and how he wanted to ride that wave of popularity for going after Brady awhile longer

Now I think that wave is going to come crashing back at Goodell - at least I hope so

I think the old saying is, basically, you can put a frog in water, slowly heat the water to a boil, and the frog will sit in the water until dead. I believe this largely explains how the owners as a collective got to the point they did with Goodell's far reaching office. It was mission creep where few wanted to rock the boat as it creeped further and further and further. Believe me, this kind of thing happens in corporate/organization culture A LOT more than people realize, Money, ideology, get tough with employees etc etc may have been the rationalizations, however, I believe at its heart it was this time honored corporate culture mission creep.

IMHO Bob Kraft is a decent man (I understand this, maybe, is not a popular belief within this thread). I believe he made the error/stupid choice to capitulate, in part, because he honestly thought it was best for himself, the Patriots organization, the NFL. I also believe Kraft thought it was best for Brady -- that the Patriots organization was taking the fall/hit. But I also believe he had humble pie he knew he was required to eat because he/other owners previously telling owners in trouble to 'suck it up and take your punishment from Goodell. This is how our collective of 32 works'. And this is part of the mission creep.And it has creeped so far that it now makes it clearly painful to a franchise to rock the boat. yes, Kraft is responsible for this as are the other 31 (like it or not players and fans get some blame too). But how the slimy overreaching state of Goodell's office came to be is more complex than Kraft is a POS.