Why Bob folded - and what it should tell you.

[livinginthe past]

Bob Kraft is a business man - and there aren't any billionaires who haven't mortgaged huge part of their soul at one point or another.

Yesterday was just another business decision for Bob Kraft - its not about Bob 'being weak' or 'lacking spine' - its about Kraft going along with the leagues efforts to handicap the team that has had the good fortune to have the best QB/HC the game has seen.

In short, its about trying to get some parity back in the game - its about letting someone else from the AFCE make the post-season (we don't want to lose those Buffalo/Miami/NYJ fans do we?).

It's best to think of the 32 franchise owners, not as competitors, but as partners in a business venture - 31 fanbases are overjoyed - 31 fanbases have increased their odds of winning the Superbowl.

One fanbase is going to bellyache a whole lot - but eventually get straight back in line and buy NFL merch, watch NFL games.....at least this is how Kraft et al think the plebs will react.

Good business, in short.

Anyone who thinks that Kraft accepted this team punishment to lower Brady's is delusional - I would not be surprised that this be taken as a green light to increase Brady's punishment to 8 games after his appeal is rejected.

What you see on the field might not be the WWE fix that some might believe, but what transpires between the 32 partners absolutely is.

The question is, do you really want to be a part of that?

Personally, after 26 years as a fan - i'm likely done - i'll always appreciate the greatness of Belichick and Brady - and i'll enjoy watching my 3GTG DVD's - but watching football on a Sunday is tacitly agreeing with the pantomime that the NFL has become...and thats something i'm not prepared to do.

All the best.

 

[VectorPrime]

It's beyond telling, its outright insulting, how Kraft worded his surrender speech. He didn't apologize to us fans. He didn't state that he believed that fighting would do the team no good because of so and so legal agreement or so and so technicality. At least that would be defensible. It would be bad but there would at least be some honesty in it. But it's clear that he didn't back down because he believed he couldn't win. No, he openly admitted that he backed down because he cared about the "good of the league" more than the integrity of his own team and the loyalty of his fans.

He spoke as if we should give one flying f.uck about the good of the league. That we should give one flying f.uck about harmony in the league. HOW F.UCKING DARE HE expect us to care about the leagues billion dollar wheelings and dealings. Who does he think he is?! Why on earth should we care about the owners getting another fraction of a percentage point from some TV deal because now the league is in 'harmony'. It's never been a question that money is the force that drives the league, but to shove it in our faces and present it like HES DOING US A FAVOR?!

What a disgrace.

 

[supafly]

Personally, after 26 years as a fan - i'm likely done - i'll always appreciate the greatness of Belichick and Brady - and i'll enjoy watching my 3GTG DVD's - but watching football on a Sunday is tacitly agreeing with the pantomime that the NFL has become...and thats something i'm not prepared to do.

All the best.

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

 

[Fencer]

there aren't any billionaires who haven't mortgaged huge part of their soul at one point or another.

I've known quite a few billionaires, and I'm inclined to agree.

I'd also reiterate that it would be easy for Kraft to make the mistake of thinking he understands consumers/fans a lot better than he actually does. He's gone from success to success, but while that's great evidence for his abilities in deal-doing, economic analysis, and general management, the consumer-marketing aspects of his success could easily just be luck (or effective delegation).

 

[VJCPatriot]

What does this:

And Robert Kraft:

Have in common?

They both fold easily with a little pressure. *drum roll*

 

[Jlaff]

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

Maybe, but if that's the case, I still see the lack of interest being drawn out slowly, and maybe not even necessarily on purpose. Next year might see some fans who normally wouldn't miss any of 16 games now watching 12. Other commitments start to take precedence over Pats games, etc.

 

[PATS16N0]

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

This depends. Is Brady playing or JAG?
I've been watching the Belichick & Brady story since the very beginning. I want to know how it ends. I'll continue to support THEM and their supporting cast on the field.

That said, when Brady goes, I don't like the current NFL and its propaganda machine enough to just hang around and take egg to the face.

Will I be expected to watch the post-Brady Patriots suck like "a good fan of laundry" when their downfall has been orchestrated by the league? **** that.

The NFL is a habit that I can break. There was a lot of the 2008 season I honestly didn't even watch, because I was so pissed off about following up the 18-1 season with a Tom Brady ACL injury in the 1st quarter of the 1st game of the next season, and that wasn't even a collective, organized effort against us. Just one dirty hit.

I, for one, can do without football. I'm pretty resourceful at finding new hobbies to replace old ones.
If the NFL doesn't want me, I don't need the NFL.

If Kraft wants to help the league even out the playing field, he should ****ing tamper or something. Not go along with this `cheating lie` to justify docked draft picks. The league just crapped on every Patriot since the BB/Brady era began with ****ing 11.80 footballs in cold weather. **** this.

 

[nowayback]

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

True but also if Kraft took this to the bitter end the "league" wouldn't suffer financially one bit. So why was it done, so the owners can smoke their havanas in a nice pleasant atmosphere? I can only assume the cameras at games will be showing even more shots of Kraft in the owners booth during games.

 

[PatsFanInLondon]

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

That may be true, but I am determined to turn my back on the NFL for as long as Goodell and his cronies are in charge of the league. Being in another country helps (although my friends are not happy that I'll not be going with them to the Wembley games later on this year) - I don't even plan on checking the scores from week to week.
Between Goodell's corruption and Kraft's willingness to put his business interests ahead of his fan base, I cannot support either any more. 30 years of NFL support down the drain. Shame on all concerned.

 

[Brit patriot]

We have been served up on a platter by Kraft. He has allowed the league to call us cheats and liars, he has allowed the name of Brady to be permanently tarnished outside our franchise.

It is one I thought we were all in together...the results are beyond distressing.

I just hope Brady gets recourse in court

 

[The Boston Patriot]

It's truly worse than your summary. To me the least he has done is mock the Patriot fan base and spit in our face for the almighty buck. I can live with a different point of view or a different argument but what he has done is his best Judas impression. I doubt he is going to feel any remorse like his mentor. Truly a reprehensible person because if you don't have your honor and reputation, you have nothing. Enjoy your money Bob, you sold everything else you had for it. I doubt that it matters to people like this though as they seem to relish the gains of this world in monetary form versus personal integrity. This is why so many of these people, near the end of their lives, try to salvage their miserable reputation by creating high profile philanthropic endeavors. It's like putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[BlitzFritz]

How did the governor of Connecticut view bob Kraft in the end. A man who promised to bring to the pats to his state, and then f.ucked him in the end with a smile and nice talk?

 

[borg]

True but also if Kraft took this to the bitter end the "league" wouldn't suffer financially one bit. So why was it done, so the owners can smoke their havanas in a nice pleasant atmosphere? I can only assume the cameras at games will be showing even more shots of Kraft in the owners booth during games.

First off...short term ...Both Kraft and the league would spend millions if not tens of millions in legal fees ....in order to recoup his $1 million dollar fine. Given the supposed $45 million in fees Wells has collected from his last two investigations, the NFL does not skimp in defending the badge.
More important though...long term......the NFL is at a crossroads. Despite record revenue, the sport itself is constantly under attack due to its violent nature and permanent injuries. Don't let the massive dollars flowing in distract you from the reality that these owners have much to worry about. High schools across the nation are dropping the sport because of cost and liability issues. Parents are refusing to allow their children to join teams. These changes will slowly trickle up into the college ranks as well. When injury litigation starts to ensnare the major universities.....and it will.....this sport will be transformed into something we may not recognize.
My point, the league understands it must maintain a united front at all times...and deflategate is simply an annoying pimple compared with the sports real issues. The "32" realizes that if the commissioner loses his "moral authority" over the sport, then the buzzards will descend fast and furious....the NFLPA, retired players, Congress. Given the PR fiascos the league has been faced with over the past few years, no doubt the "32" understand that they must circle the wagons and regain control of their league. Their will be bigger battles ahead that demand a unified front.

 

[PatsfanTN]

I dont believe it had anything to do with reducing Bradys suspension. What i cant wrap my head around is setting up a website, yes a WEBSITE, days ago and now.....meh, we will take our punishment. What?? This can only be about the other owners. Its the only thing that makes any sense.

This just made Toms appeal harder imo. Fing joke.

 

[mosi]

Bob Kraft is a business man - and there aren't any billionaires who haven't mortgaged huge part of their soul at one point or another.

Yesterday was just another business decision for Bob Kraft - its not about Bob 'being weak' or 'lacking spine' - its about Kraft going along with the leagues efforts to handicap the team that has had the good fortune to have the best QB/HC the game has seen.

In short, its about trying to get some parity back in the game - its about letting someone else from the AFCE make the post-season (we don't want to lose those Buffalo/Miami/NYJ fans do we?).

It's best to think of the 32 franchise owners, not as competitors, but as partners in a business venture - 31 fanbases are overjoyed - 31 fanbases have increased their odds of winning the Superbowl.

One fanbase is going to bellyache a whole lot - but eventually get straight back in line and buy NFL merch, watch NFL games.....at least this is how Kraft et al think the plebs will react.

Good business, in short.

Anyone who thinks that Kraft accepted this team punishment to lower Brady's is delusional - I would not be surprised that this be taken as a green light to increase Brady's punishment to 8 games after his appeal is rejected.

What you see on the field might not be the WWE fix that some might believe, but what transpires between the 32 partners absolutely is.

The question is, do you really want to be a part of that?

Personally, after 26 years as a fan - i'm likely done - i'll always appreciate the greatness of Belichick and Brady - and i'll enjoy watching my 3GTG DVD's - but watching football on a Sunday is tacitly agreeing with the pantomime that the NFL has become...and thats something i'm not prepared to do.

All the best.

Yup 100%. We are the stupid sheep that'll come back, again and again, no matter what. And he knows it. As he said, he is honored to be parters with the 31 other NFL teams, not honored to be the owner and representative of the New England Patriots. It is a partnership of the rich - not the fans.

 

[signbabybrady]

Kraft could not have been more clear in his press conference where his allegiances lie.
The man literally held a press conference just to announce that the opinion of 31 other teams fans and his business partners are more important than his fans.
Seriously go listen to what he said again. Clearly his intention in the presser was to put an end to this fiasco but again his reasoning literally was because thats what the 31 Other fan bases want then he went on to talk about what his business partners expected of him when he bought the team 20 years ago.

 

[UK_Pat37]

Some of the reactions to this are really bugging me...

Some see this as an admission of guilt; what guilt? The report states that the Patriots organisation as a whole were unaware of what was going on. It cleared Kraft and Belichick of any knowing or wrong-doing. The punishment is screwed up because of the logic 'ignorance is not an excuse'...that's a load of horse sh*t because I don't know how on Earth an employer is supposed to keep tabs on every single one of its hundreds, maybe even thousands, of employees.

This is not an admission of guilt. At the end of the day we are likely fighting a losing battle. Unless Brady is cleared, this punishment isn't going away for the team. If anything this is a smart move; If Brady IS cleared and his ban wiped, then the league would have no choice to then repeal the punishment handed out to the team.

Some have suggested, and I agree, that the team isn't going to war over this to help negotiations over Brady's punishment. If the team started mud slinging (which we already had), then that could really hurt the relationship between the League and the team and may then hurt Brady's chances in an appeal. Even a reduction in the 4 game ban is a WIN whether you see it that way or not. Two games is better than four.

People want apologies from Kraft? What the hell has he done wrong? Jack. We have a new season to focus on and the less distractions the better. $1M is pocket change to him and the team. The draft picks suck but you can accumulate those back.

I think this might help negotiations with Brady's punishment as some suggest and it has already been reported we are negotiating behind the scenes.

This is a smart business move. We do not need a bad relationship with the League or with 31 other owners. Let Brady get his appeal out of the way and then decide the course of action. There's no point in appealing this until the outcome of Brady's appeal comes out.

I would have thought, after every time Kraft and Belichick have shut their haters up, you would all have come to trust his judgement by now. Clearly my faith is misplaced. Whose pride is hurt here? Anyone? Not mine.

Fans would still call us cheaters even if we are cleared. Get over it.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Once again the foolish cite the need for a good relationship and influence with the league & 31 owners.

The facts:
Jets owner blatantly tampers...minimal $100K fine (previous subtle tampers cost draft pick swaps & loss)
Vikes, etc. warm balls during a game...admonition from the league

Pats footballs do nothing other than obey laws of physics...Kraft accepts biggest penalty EVER w/o appeal

Don't talk to me about relationship & influence. It's a canard.

Bob has signaled that whatever egregious attack the jealous of BB & Brady bring, he'll acquiesce

 

[jlu52]

Woke up this morning. Was hoping yesterday was just a long, bad dream. Alas, it wasn't. **** you, Kraft, you coward. You don't deserve your team or it's fans, *******...

 

[Mack Herron]

I have no reason to not believe you, as your word has always been good with me. I do however, question the authenticity of some other fans here who claim the same. If a game were coming on tomorrow afternoon at 1:00, about 99 percent of us would be tuning in---and guys like Kraft and Goodell KNOW that.

I "reluctantly" gave this post a "disagree". I did so not to be defiant or argumentative, but simply as a personal vote from someone who is turning his back on the NFL, admittedly at some personal sacrifice. I am sure you are right that some folks are simply venting and when they cool off everything will be the same. But I see a large number of fans (including this one) for whom I am not at all sure that is the case. I have been going to games for many years, and I have seen the money roll in. While I appreciated having my cold aluminum bench replaced with a an individual chair and cup holder, I did not enjoy the growth of luxury boxes for people who watch behind glass and leave thousands of wonderful seats empty and quiet. I did not enjoy ripping out a thousand seats of long time time fans and replacing them with a membership-only bar. I do not appreciate the NFL not taking care of its players who suffered crippling injuries in their line of work, then denying in court that the evidence was insufficient to show that game had anything to do with CTE. This Deflategate nonsense shows that their standard of evidence depends on whose neck is in the noose.

When Kraft tells me "at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the full 32" I know exactly what he means. The NFL has implemented a system of rule-making that is not designed to serve due process, fairness, or justice; it is designed to serve the interest of 32 teams. If that means that one team has to sacrifice a first round draft pick along with a fourth round pick and play without its star QB for a quarter of a season, that is fine because 31 out of 32 teams are satisfied with this process, despite the fact that it does not stand up to a sense of fair play. I read the Wells report and I had the same reaction as Steph Stradley:

after reading the Wells Report, all I could say was, "Is that all you got? That's your evidence?" It seemed to me written more like an advocacy project with evidence good for the Patriots minimized, footnoted or dismissed without comment, and much of the evidence that looked bad for the Patriots interpreted in the worst way.

And Kraft agreed. "I didn’t think it was fair – there was no hard evidence and everything was circumstantial – and at the same time, when the discipline came out, I felt it was way over the top, as it was unreasonable and unprecedented in my opinion." But under the banner of game integrity we are asked to support our team trying to compete without a #1 draft pick (by all rights a core player for years) as well as a number 4 pick and our star QB for a quarter of the season (thankfully the players have the NFLPA to fight this monstrosity).

Football is a pasttime for me. It is entertainment, but I don't watch it for the seats, the alcohol, or the fancy scoreboard. I watch it because I enjoy seeing gifted athletes compete at the highest level of their sport. Now Kraft is asking me to subordinate the idea of fair competition for "the collective good." He has lost touch with the fan base and badly misunderstood the most basic reason I watch the game. So for me, money has corrupted the owners and their product has deteriorated. Like everyone here, I love the game, I admire the players and the coaches who compete. But the owner has supported a rigged game and has sapped my enjoyment from it. I will not support him.