Wednesday Daily Rundown 5/4: New England Patriots News & Notes
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) 🕑 Read Time: 4 minutes
Posted Under: Daily Patriots Rundown
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) 🕑 Read Time: 4 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) We’re at the midway point, but here’s this morning’s rundown with today’s stories:
Brady and his legal team get a small victory – It’s always fun when the NFL squirms a bit, and Tuesday saw that happen after Brady’s legal team won a minor victory in court.
Brady’s lawyers were granted a two week extension to appeal his suspension, which now gives his legal team until May 23rd to decide their next step. The big question now will be whether or not they’ll request a rehearing in front of the same three-judge panel, which shot him down 2-1, or whether or not they’ll be able to get a hearing in front of the entire circuit.
The most recent win by the NFL, which reinstated Brady’s four-game suspension, had Roger Goodell doing a victory lap and the league wasn’t happy when Brady’s lawyers opted to keep the fight going. Given what Brady’s been through and the misrepresentation of the facts by one of the most powerful commissioners in sports, Brady should continue the fight until he’s exhausted all his options.
Win or lose, most would agree it’s an atrocity what the league has done to a player who has been a model citizen during his career and is arguably the best to ever play his position. Needless to say, the more his team makes the NFL uncomfortable, the happier his supporters likely remain. After all, one reason Brady’s been so successful over his entire career is the fact that no matter how bleak things look, he doesn’t give up and he keeps fighting until the final whistle.
The NFL wants this to end and they’re disappointed Brady isn’t kneeling on the most recent legal decision. He’s still battling and in his mind, it’s not over yet.
Brady’s no stranger to comeback wins. Hopefully for his sake, Brady and his legal team will have one more of those left in them.
 Brady and the Patriots are favorites to win it all yet again in 2016. |
Patriots the favorite to win Super Bowl LI – While Tom Brady’s future might be in question for the first four games of 2016, that’s not stopping the oddsmakers from believing any less in New England’s Super Bowl chances this season.
According to ESPN, the Westgate SuperBook released their Super Bowl odds and the Patriots find themselves at the top as they’re favored at 6-1, ahead of the Seahawks, Steelers, and Packers, who are each tied at 8-1. From there it’s just Carolina at 9-1, with the Panthers as the last team sitting with odds better than 14-1.
The worst team? That honor belongs to the Cleveland browns, who sit with the farthest odds but potentially the largest payout at 150-1. The good news? The Patriots were once 60-1 to win it all heading into the 2001 season before they shocked the world with a win over St. Louis. Those odds made many fans a lot of money that year as no one expected what happened, so it’s not impossible…although it’s likely not probable.
There’s certainly no other franchise who deserves success more than Cleveland, but they’ve certainly got their work cut out for them. However, in the off chance they stun the masses with a championship run, anyone who bets on that will definitely cash in big-time.
USA TODAY Ranks Patriots Offseason Among the Worst – It’s interesting to look at the list of teams ranked in the publication’s most recent entry breaking down each of the teams’ offseasons, especially given where they rank New England.
According to Nate Davis, the Patriots were ranked 31st for their offseason moves, although it’s clear Davis hasn’t paid much attention. He wraps up their entire offseason in just one long sentence that misses out on a couple of the team’s key moves.
“A somewhat eventful offseason that included the retirement of LB Jerod Mayo, trade of DE Chandler Jones, arrival of replacement Chris Long and a two-year extension for Tom Brady was upended when the quarterback’s four-game Deflategate suspension was reinstated, thus reinstating a summer-long distraction.”
No mention of the acquisition of wide receiver Chris Hogan or tight end Martellus Bennett, both of whom should improve the Patriots offense. He just mentions the loss off both Mayo and Jones and the signing of Long…who obviously he doesn’t think much of. He also omits the signing of Terrance Knighton, which was one of the bigger – no pun intended – additions on defense. Granted the suspension, if it stands, of Brady will sting, but there have been enough improvements made to a pretty good roster for this team to be more competitive in 2016.
Needless to say no real shock with this one, although Davis might be surprised this season when he sees this group in action in the coming months.
Kraft Reveals His Father Wanted Him to be a Rabbi – When Patriots owner Robert Kraft was young, it sounds like his father didn’t expect him to become the owner of a professional football team and clearly had different aspirations for his son.
According to Kraft, his father apparently saw the leadership qualities at a young age and hoped his son would one day become a religious leader.
Instead, Kraft had other plans.
“Well my father was a very wise man, and a very spiritual person, but I don’t think people who love football and have ADD would be good rabbis,” Kraft told Algemeiner.com. So even though I was a middle child, it was one of the first times I went against my parents, times many.”
It obviously worked out. Kraft went on to become a successful business man and one of the most successful owners in the NFL.
“Football has always been my passion,” Kraft said of his decision to purchase the franchise, which he bought in 1994.
They’ve obviously come a long way from the glorified college stadium that housed the team before Kraft constructed Gillette Stadium with his own money less than 10-years later. That move along with the team’s success now has the Patriots among one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.
He probably could have been a terrific rabbi, but 14 Division titles and Four Super Bowls later, it’s safe to say most fans are glad that Kraft followed his passsion and pursued the path that he did.
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