I've spent way more time than I should have spent thinking about this since Kraft made his statement in San Francisco (am I the only one on the Board who figured out that it was over before he uttered a single word when I saw that Kraft would be standing behind an NFL Podium with an NFL banner as a backdrop? If you can bear to go back to the thread from the time leading up to his remarks, you'll see that I called peoples' attention to the NFL insignia in a comment before he entered the room.)
Agree or disagree as I might, there are all sorts of reasons why Kraft might have chosen not to take the NFL to Court. Bylaws reasons. Al Davis comparison reasons. Expense reasons. Emotional stress and hassle reasons. "I'm too old for this ****" reasons. Any one of a lot of other reasons. I don't have to agree with any of them, but they can each be argued as plausible.
But, what I haven't been able to get my head around is why he didn't Appeal. The bylaws allow for an Appeal. It could have been handled in a professional and even polite manner. He'd already set up a "truth site" and made vigorous verbal defenses of Brady and the staff. So, why did he change course?
For the "good of the 32?" ********. In addition to spending too much time thinking about this, I've also spent more time than I'd like with highly "successful" and extremely wealthy men. Except in rare cases where family is involved, they don't do something like Kraft did by foregoing his right to Appeal for altruistic reasons. So, the explanation that he did it "for the good of the 32" is nonsense. Guys like Kraft don't think or act like that. His TV contract revenues and the revenues of the other 31 are all guaranteed. By the time the contract comes up for renewal, his appeal would have been a fly speck on a distant horizon. The "32" were all going to continue doing just fine if he appealed.
Because he's a "coward?" Nah. You don't make $4b or so in your life be being a coward. That's easy rhetoric for people to throw around out here and if it's what you think, that 's fine. Please don't try to make me buy it.
So, that leaves me with five possible explanations.
He got something that he wanted in return for not appealing. We can have no idea what that is or was. People have speculated endlessly, but that's all a waste of time since it's unknowable. Maybe it was a deal for Brady, whom he has described as his "son" and thus of whom he would think as a family member, or maybe it was something as crass as Goodell's promise that the League would push for Kraft's induction into Canton sooner rather than later. Maybe it was for an outsized say in the Los Angeles franchise selection. So, one explanation is that he sold out in return for something he wanted. I think there's about a 65% chance that that's why he did it. In other words, about two to one.
He decided to eat the penalties for the team and bet that Goodell would blink when it came to upholding Brady's suspension since, unlike Kraft, Brady would have no constraints if it came to suing the League, including no financial constraints. Maybe he figured that the last thing Goodell wants is for anybody to force litigation and discovery and by removing the threat of an Appeal by the team, he felt he was leaving the door open for Goodell to say that the penalty to the team was enough and Brady was free to play on opening night. No "deal" was made, but Kraft calculated it that way. 15% chance.
The League threatened him in some way. Perhaps there was some sort of "smoking gun" regarding Deflategate or, more likely, regarding something else about which we will never know. So, another explanation is that he was blackmailed in some "polite" way to shut up. Maybe a 10% chance that that was the reason.
He decided that Brady and the equipment guys were guilty as charged to some degree. He either got more information or he reviewed the facts again and concluded that Brady and the deflators were "probably" complicit in something that was against the rules. So, another explanation is that he decided to keep up his public denial but basically believed he was lying to do so. I'd give that about a 5% chance.
He decided that "Revenge is a dish best served cold" and decided to give up on this but get Goodell later by making it impossible for him to remain as Commissioner beyond his current contract. Another 5%.
