The more I think about it, the more I think that Roger Goodell is actually a patsy in all this. Start from the supposition that nothing we've read in the media wasn't deliberately placed there. Up to and including Kensil's name being added to the mix. Also, follow the money.
Just saw this a little while ago: "Patriots owner Robert Kraft behind NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s $300 million salary: report "
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...-goodell-300m-salary-report-article-1.2092554
Goodell is being embarrassed on the largest stage possible by the continuing leaks. These leaks are likely intended to drive a wedge between Kraft and Goodell and further isolate Goodell, ideally to force Goodell's hand into saving himself by whacking the Pats.
Eric Grubman, President of Business Ventures in the NFL and Goldman Sachs alum, and Jeff Pash, Executive Vice President and Lead Counsel and former Covington and Burling alum, were both names floated to take the job of Commissioner in 2006. Grubman took his name out because it was obvious he hadn't paid the requisite dues in the League to take the top spot. Pash was passed over for Goodell. The way these leaks are being orchestrated and ESPN's role in all of this suggests to me the participation of Bornstein as well.
My guess, based on what we are seeing is, is that there is a cadre within the league office comprised of Grubman, Pash and Bronstein acting to force out Goodell because they sense he's weak. There's $300 million reasons, payable over the next seven years, why someone would want to whack him.
As for why the Pats/Kraft? What is one of the things that makes Kraft unique among NFL owners? He built his own stadium with his own money, denying the Wall Street roaches their cut through the marketing and sale of the bonds. Prior to Kraft buying the Patriots, the leading candidate to purchase the franchise was an ownership group headed by Tom Clancy who was able to secure $66 million in municipal bonds from Connecticut as well as another $252 million in municipal bonds for the construction of a new stadium in Hartford. Goldman Sachs was among the architects putting together that deal. After Kraft purchased the team, the final offer to Kraft was a $1 billion dollar project in Hartford, CT where the stadium would have been the anchor. Kraft decided to stay in Foxboro and build a new stadium with his own money. I am sure a number of investment bankers and their lawyers saw the prospect of commissions and fees from those bonds dry up before their eyes. Among them, I'd wager, were Grubman and Pash. Governor Rowland, for his part, declared that he was "officially a Jets fan, now and probably forever" after this plan was nixed by Kraft. In 2004, Rowland pleaded guilty to 'depriving the public of honest service' and was sentenced to prison. One wonders what other sweeteners may have been part of that deal.
