Kraft admits he sold the team out

[Simpelton]

His current reputation as a man of relative principle (or none at all) is well earned and is extremely hard for a 25-year season ticket holder like myself to reconcile.

Don't really see why. "Kraft is a great owner for this franchise," and "Kraft will cave under pressure from the entire rest of the owners' room" are not contradictory statements. There's nothing to reconcile, both are true.

It's becoming incresingly obvious to me that there's very little a rogue owner can do when the entire rest of the league's owners are united against him. Even Jerruh caved pretty quickly, the difference is Jerruh embarrassed himself a lot more than Kraft did first. People were actually pretending Jerry Jones was a good owner and comparing him favorably to the guy who is ultimately responsible for assembling the team that assembled the Dynasty just because they wish that Kraft had played the oak in the Aesop fable rather than the reed. Jerruh played the oak, and look what it got him.

28. THE OAK AND THE REEDS (Aesop for Children, 1919)

 

[Patjew]

All of the angst and pain expressed here about Kraft is due to delusional thinking that he should be someone other than the character sketch above.

He's part of a tribe (NFL Owners) that depends on another tribe (NFL fans) to meet their goals (financial success in a fun industry). The idea that he'd forsake loyalty to his own tribe is magical thinking. The quality of his life has been improved by his stance on deflategate. And his most recent statement isn't an attack on his tribe, it is a marketing tactic with the goal of getting more money from us.

The problem for us is that being a fan of a sports team requires some "suspension of reality" mindset. We need to believe that there is a Patriots Nation that the owners, employees, players, and fans are all part of. All this drama pops that bubble.

Hey watch it!

 

[Koma]

I can understand Kraft's mindset of thinking of prioritizing the welfare of the entire league over the welfare of one team. The problem with that line of thinking is, if everyone else isn't operating based on the same belief, someone is going to get screwed and you're going to have bigger problems. Were the other owners thinking of what was best for the entire league and it's perception when they decided to change the rules based on things the Patriots have had success with or to heavily punish Kraft's team for things they look the other way with when others are involved?

In the big picture, what is this spirit of conciliation gaining Kraft down the road? Something we learned about the deflategate penalties was that the other owners thought the league didn't punish the Patriots enough for spygate. This is BS, revisionist thinking because, at the time, everyone thought the penalties were significant. Goodell even said that he took away the 1st round pick because he thought it would have a more negative effect on the franchise.

The problem was, the Patriots didn't fall back to the pack like the league and owners thought they would. They continued to win, maybe not Super Bowls, but they were the best team in the AFC East and among the best in the league post-spygate. It wasn't that the penalty wasn't heavy enough, it was that the Patriots were good enough to deal with it and continue their success. When the deflated football farce came up, the owners decided this was their chance to really set the Patriots back and Goodell impose an even harsher punishment. Once again, though, the Patriots continued to win. Since the deflategate story started, New England has won 2 Super Bowls and been to an AFCCG. This season, they are on track to be one of the top 2 seeds in the playoffs.

Kraft has publicly stated that he believes envy and jealousy were behind the most recent penalties levied against his franchise. They probably played a big role in the penalties from a decade ago. The reason for that envy and jealousy still exists, so what's to stop the league from "messing up big time" again and banning Belichick for a year because an opponent's headsets failed at Gillette during a playoff game? Doing what's "best for the league" is a noble approach, but when the league has decided that holding your team to a different, unfair standard is in it's bests interests, how can you support that?

 

[IllegalContact]

lol......most of you should have traded your pats gear for cowboys gear a long time ago

because, yeah........this soap opera ******** is so much more important than the sport itself......the endless *****ing is so f*cking pathetic

 

[lancerman]

Can't wait to hear Lancer's "Hug the Principle while my child gets screwed over" analogy again.

I shouldn't really have to.

He wasn't going to win. And without him you wouldn't have this team in MA anymore, you wouldn't have BB as the head coach, and

Bill Belichick made this a great franchise.

Who kept this team here? Who hired Bill Belichick when other owners were telling him not to? Who never meddled in Bill Belichick's job like owners in Cleveland did or like a certain owner in Dallas does?

 

[everlong]

Dramatis Personae:

Robert Kraft played by Ned Beatty
NFL Owners played by the woodsmen
Rodger Goodell played by Bernie Madoff

 

[Clonamery]

I shouldn't really have to.

He wasn't going to win. And without him you wouldn't have this team in MA anymore, you wouldn't have BB as the head coach, and


Who kept this team here? Who hired Bill Belichick when other owners were telling him not to? Who never meddled in Bill Belichick's job like owners in Cleveland did or like a certain owner in Dallas does?

Yeah.

And who dances with Goodell as the moron fiddles while the NFL burns?

 

[RayClay]

Another thing you made up.
He has said himself that he decided what was good for the other owners was more important than what was good for the franchise.
The fact that you don’t take his word and have to create an excuse for him proves he is wrong and you just won’t afmit it.



He is a good owner by the measure of hiring Bill Belichick.
But now at least it seems like we agree that he screwed this one up but you are just willing to give him a pass on it because you couldn’t care less.

There was no good response. He could have raised a big stink and got nothing and that's what most people here want. Fine with me.

 

[RayClay]

Dramatis Personae:

Robert Kraft played by Ned Beatty
NFL Owners played by the woodsmen
Rodger Goodell played by Bernie Madoff

Tom Brady played by Tom Brady. What a guy. He's better looking than anyone who could have played him.

 

[everlong]

Tom Brady played by Tom Brady. What a guy. He's better looking than anyone who could have played him.

He had to decline. They cast Bridget Moynahan as Giselle and she went postal.

 

[Tony2046]

I shouldn't really have to.

He wasn't going to win. And without him you wouldn't have this team in MA anymore, you wouldn't have BB as the head coach, and


Who kept this team here? Who hired Bill Belichick when other owners were telling him not to? Who never meddled in Bill Belichick's job like owners in Cleveland did or like a certain owner in Dallas does?

Trying to splinter the argument between either "no team" or the "ass kissing capitulation" is reaching for extremes rather than the rational. It's just silly and weak.

There are much more honorable ways to lose a fight that do not include kissing, hugging, praising or supporting the fraud.

 

[Ring 6]

There was no good response. He could have raised a big stink and got nothing and that's what most people here want. Fine with me.

You have no idea what would have happened if he prepared a strong rebuttal and filed an appeal.
Your argument is reduced to you support him doing nothing because doing something never works.

 

[SalemPats]

Kraft needs to publicily come out and say he thinks Roger Goodell should be FIRED. until he does that, nothing is forgiven

 

[RobertWeathers]

Hey watch it!

Honest Question: Is referring to one of the Jewish faith as a "M.O.T" considered racially insensitive now?

My wife of 22 years is Jewish as is her family and I call all our Jewish celebrations, "Tribal Gatherings" and no one has ever taken offense?

 

[Ring 6]

I shouldn't really have to.

He wasn't going to win. And without him you wouldn't have this team in MA anymore, you wouldn't have BB as the head coach, and

You do not know he wasn’t going to win.
However let’s assume you are right.
That means he believes if he appealed and presented an incontrovertible defense that was blatantly obvious that nothing happened (which he could have) he believed that Roger Goodell would have known he did nothing and penalized him any way to screw him. Take 1,000,000 dollars pucks and Brady’s reputation away knowing there was no violation.
Then explain why he continues to hug support and offer an extension to goodell?

Who kept this team here? Who hired Bill Belichick when other owners were telling him not to? Who never meddled in Bill Belichick's job like owners in Cleveland did or like a certain owner in Dallas does?

I gave him credit for hiring belichick. If he hadn’t done that he would be a terrible owner. It saved him from himself.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

I was pissed at Kraft originally because we all know the allegations towards Brady was complete nonsense. As I slept on it for a good part of a year I come to believe his quote "I am doing what is best for our franchise moving forward"

If you buck the ownership Boys Club for any reason and threaten lawsuits. You are screwed moving forward in all the committee's and decisions made upon your team in the present and any future dealings.

This does not make his decision right in regards to simple logic towards Deflategate. But the initial damage isolates it so as to not put us behind the eight ball from last year to the future. Look what happened to Al Davis and the Raiders. Hell he traded to draft Elway. The deal was done and the NFL refused it.

So don't get me wrong I hate what happened and Hate this Boys Club billionaire AHoles mentality. But it is a business and sometimes you have to know when to lose a battle to win a War

 

[lancerman]

Brady is a member of the union that is the enemy of ownership and the commissioner.
Kraft is one of the commissioners bosses.
The idea that goodell is the power and kraft is the subordinate who should fear him is mind boggling.

When the 32 people have access to a weapn they created.

You do not know he wasn’t going to win.
However let’s assume you are right.
That means he believes if he appealed and presented an incontrovertible defense that was blatantly obvious that nothing happened (which he could have) he believed that Roger Goodell would have known he did nothing and penalized him any way to screw him. Take 1,000,000 dollars pucks and Brady’s reputation away knowing there was no violation.
Then explain why he continues to hug support and offer an extension to goodell?



I gave him credit for hiring belichick. If he hadn’t done that he would be a terrible owner. It saved him from himself.

No keeping the team, here getting great coaches like Carroll, Parcells and Belichick here, not interfering, getting them to a SB before Belichick ever became a HC and then assist them and helping to cultivate this culture and supporting Belichick and the coaching is what made him a great owner and someone who will go down as the guy who under his leadership bought a joke franchise and brought them 8 Super Bowl appearances and 5 wins when in their entire history before him they only went to one.

And neither of us know what will happen. But we both know there are clauses that prevents the owners from suing and that many analysts thought Kraft didn't have leg to stand. We wouldn't know unless he tried, but the evidence just simply does not support your viewpoint. You are using an argument of ignorance of "well we don't really know because he didn't do anything".

 

[Simpelton]

Trying to splinter the argument between either "no team" or the "ass kissing capitulation" is reaching for extremes rather than the rational. It's just silly and weak

Not really. The "capitulation" comes with the package that is Robert Kraft. I dunno about you but Kraft always struck me as softspoken and diplomatic. Expecting that guy not to respond to the crisis in a softspoken diplomatic way is an exercise in wishful thinking.

 

[lancerman]

Trying to splinter the argument between either "no team" or the "ass kissing capitulation" is reaching for extremes rather than the rational. It's just silly and weak.

There are much more honorable ways to lose a fight that do not include kissing, hugging, praising or supporting the fraud.

Well no you just seem to get off on trashing somebody who you would not even have a team much less 8 Super Bowls and 5 titles without because he didn't fight a battle that most evidence suggests he would lose and lose quickly on to satisfy a need for optics.

Please, it's beyond tired. I was as sick if not sicker than anybody here with the deflategate mess. I literally got depressed over it. But I'm not going to lose my mind because a guy didn't want to fight a battle he felt he would lose and alienate and undermine two decades of building one of sports greatest franchises. If I thought there was a real prospect of winning I'd maybe change my tune. But I really don't think we were ever getting those picks back. So I'm not going to spend my time trashing a guy who not only saved this team but brought this region so much joy for the better part of 20 years because he didn't thump his chest and fight a losing battle to endear himself to the fans he already gave a winning franchise to.

 

[Ring 6]

When the 32 people have access to a weapn they created.

No keeping the team, here getting great coaches like Carroll, Parcells and Belichick here, not interfering, getting them to a SB before Belichick ever became a HC and then assist them and helping to cultivate this culture and supporting Belichick and the coaching is what made him a great owner and someone who will go down as the guy who under his leadership bought a joke franchise and brought them 8 Super Bowl appearances and 5 wins when in their entire history before him they only went to one.

He ran tuna off the job. If you think the Pete Carroll hire was a success I’m not sure we should go any further.
I give him credit for hiring belichick and leaving him alone. Otherwise he has done poorly.

And neither of us know what will happen. But we both know there are clauses that prevents the owners from suing and that many analysts thought Kraft didn't have leg to stand.

When did I say sue? He needed to appeal. He chose not to because accepting the punishment as valid was best for 31 other owners. His own words.

We wouldn't know unless he tried, but the evidence just simply does not support your viewpoint. You are using an argument of ignorance of "well we don't really know because he didn't do anything".

There is zero evidence that there was no point to try. Goodell has often reduced punishment in appeals.
My argument is that he should have tried. It was his obligation. Only yours centers on predicting the future.