With apologies to Andrew Shepherd
HOUSTON, TX-Tuesday, 31 January 2017, Patriots' team hotel lobby
Reporter: Stacey, will Robert Kraft ever respond to Commissioner Goodell's question about filing the amicus brief supporting Tom Brady?
Robert Kraft: Yes, he will. Good morning. [Members of the Super Bowl 51 Press Corps begin to rise] It's alright. Please keep your seats. Good morning.
For the last several years, Commissioner Goodell has suggested that running a viable sports enterprise was, to a certain extent, about integrity. And although I've not been willing to directly engage in his attacks on me and my team, I have been here twenty-three years and ten days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being the owner of this football team is entirely about integrity.
For the record, yes, I filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Tom Brady last May, but the more important question is "Why didn't you, Roger?" Now this is a young man who has represented the NFL with respect and quiet dignity his entire professional life, so it naturally begs the question, why would the commissioner, his league's most powerful spokesman and representative of its best interests, choose to reject treating him fairly? Now if you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.
Unity isn't easy. Unity is advanced negotiation. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want equality? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your league cannot just be a shield. The symbol also has to be one of its members exercising his right to challenge that shield in support of the rights of a teammate, coach, assistant, equipment manager, spouse or fan. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your stadiums.
Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.
I've known Roger Goodell for years now. And I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Roger devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Roger's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Roger's problem is that he can't sell it!
We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, whether it's CTE, domestic abuse, fair play or the price of tickets, I promise you Roger Goodell is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what distracts people from the truth. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income fans who remember with longing an simpler time, and you talk to them about family, and American values and integrity, and you wave a photo of your league's most innovative and intuitive coach and you scream about the Patriots. You tell them he's to blame for their lot in life. And then, nearly eight years later, you impose more insane penalties on your league's model franchise, and suspend your league's best player, calling him a cheater, and a liar.
Tom Brady has done nothing to you, Roger. He has done nothing but work his way up the ranks, earn a college scholarship, captaincy and a starting job, and do anything and everything he can to help his team, accepting less pay, seeing close friends sent away, and not once complaining, ever. You want to challenge someone's integrity, Roger? You better stick with me, 'cause Tom Brady is way out of your league.
I've lost two pro sports fan bases in my life. One, the Boston Lobsters, I lost when I ran out of money. And I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my team, I forgot to lead my team. Well, that ends right now.
There is an image of a minuteman, in historically accurate blue, glaring bravely out at the world in front of him, ready to snap the football. His name is Pat Patriot, and his origins are on display today at an exhibit back home, in Foxborough. He has been the identity of this franchise since 1960, eleven years before I became a season ticket holder, when young Pat Sullivan pointed him out to his father and said, "I like him the best, Daddy." He has been called the best logo in sports, and he stood by us through thick or thin for thirty-three years. Throughout my ownership of this team, I have reached out to alumni, and done everything I can to preserve our history, but I never got it. I never let it in. Beginning with the 2017 season, Pat Patriot will be restored to our helmets, and our team will wear the corresponding uniforms permanently, for good. His replacement, the "flying elvis", will make its last appearance on Sunday. It may be able to become a throwback for us someday, but for now, it's retired. We will always be able to relive our glories wearing it. Today, I seek to know and respect our fans the way my original predecessor did.
We've got serious problems, and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about integrity, Roger, you'd better come at me with more than a crushed videotape and an air pressure guage. If you want to talk about integrity and fair play, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This a time for serious people, Roger, and your fifteen minutes are up.
My name is Robert Kraft, and I am the owner of the New England Patriots.
