Robert Kraft's Powerful Statement Reignites War Between Patriots And NFL
BOSTON (CBS) -- Well then.
We all thought that the only war left to fight was the one between Tom Brady and the NFLPA vs. Roger Goodell and the NFL.
We were wrong.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft made a surprise appearance in front of the media on Wednesday morning, and he held back nothing in his full-on assault on the league and commissioner Goodell.
Kraft called the league's actions "incomprehensible." He said the league is going to great lengths to damage the reputation of Tom Brady. He essentially said the league duped him.
And he went at Goodell where it will hurt the most: He questioned the commissioner's integrity.
"Once again," Kraft said before leaving the podium, "I want to apologize to fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league."
This -- not Goodell's destroyed cell phone announcement, not Brady's Facebook statement, not anything else -- this is by far the most fascinating development yet in the sad six-month saga that's come to be known as "DeflateGate."
This is one of the league's most powerful owners coming out and stating in no uncertain terms that Roger Goodell has lied and deceived. This is Robert Kraft, a powerful negotiator for decades, saying the league did not play fair.
This is the reigning Super Bowl champion waging war on the NFL. Again.
Remember, it wasn't that long ago when a defiant Kraft stepped on stage in Chandler, Ariz., after the Patriots arrived in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX. That Kraft was pretty ticked off at the league. This Kraft today in Foxboro? He was furious.
It's clear that it pained Kraft a great deal to do what he did in San Francisco in May, when he essentially hid behind "The Shield," choosing to believe in the power of the partnership of 32 teams instead of pursuing his own interests. He thought that would be enough to resolve the overblown situation -- one that still stems from a few hisses of air potentially being removed from footballs which were handled every single play by NFL officials yet never so much as raised an eyebrow. Kraft believed it was wrong to get docked two draft picks and $1 million, but he swallowed the punishment in an effort to finally put the story to rest and move on.
And since that date, he's gotten no apologies from the NFL for a months-long refusal to correct the erroneous Chris Mortensen report which catapulted the entire story into a national frenzy. And he's seen his fellow owners put pressure on the commissioner to go hard after Brady and keep the four-game suspension.
The power of the 32? Not so much. Every single owner remains concerned with two things: making billions of dollars, and winning football games.
Now, Kraft is apparently relearning that himself. He's going back to war with Goodell and the NFL because it serves his interests -- and because it is his right. Despite what we all think about what happened (or didn't happen) the night of Jan. 18, the fact remains that a $5 million investigation captured no incriminating evidence -- and raised more questions about the investigation process itself than the actual findings. We can all use various bits of evidence to jump to whatever conclusions we like, but as Kraft noted Wednesday, "In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the the discipline is being imposed, and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC Championship Game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs."
He's right.
He's also right in suggesting that the league's leading yesterday's ruling by saying Brady "destroyed" his cell phone was an intentional play at directing a narrative. That is what the NFL did with multiple leaks (some factual, some not so much) throughout the entire ordeal, that is what the NFL did with the release of the Wells report, and that is what the NFL did with the release of Tuesday's 20-page ruling on Brady.
It is a PR battle for the ages, one that won't matter much in whichever federal court the case eventually lands, but one that dominates public opinion about all involved parties. It was just a few weeks ago that Kraft and Goodell were sharing brisk walks and al fresco lunches in Idaho. And really, for the past two months, this looked like a war in which Kraft would not be a willing participant. Now, he's leading the charge.
Are the Patriots hiding something? Sure seems like it. But as Kraft stated back in March, there is no "smoking gun." He knows it, and so he will fight. And he's willing to cash in his 20 years of built-up cachet to do it.
"DeflateGate" just got very, very interesting.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
