Jared Max: Deflatriots Suddenly Getting High And Mighty Doesn't Pass Sniff Test
By Jared Max
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Robert Kraft is one of my favorite owners in sports. I am a great fan of his personally. Bob Kraft is a special man who holds great power. But I cannot be blinded by nepotism in a way that Richard Sherman suggested Roger Goodell is likely to be when it comes to levying potential punishment against the Deflatriots because of his close friendship with the team's owner.
If Robert Kraft expects an apology for possibly being falsely accused and slandered, he will have to get in line behind millions of Tri-Staters waiting to hear from the National Weather Service about how sorry they are for missing the intended receiver -- overthrowing this storm by a few hundred miles, smashing New England instead of New York.
Funny thing is that Bill Belichick provoked meteorologists this past fall, taking time from a press conference to air a personal diatribe about incorrect forecasting. Belichick should be thankful that his forecasting friends' timing with Mother Nature was off -- again -- keeping poetic revenge from biting Bill. Had the blizzard surprise-blitzed New England one or two days earlier, the Deflatriots might have gotten stuck in Boston, delaying their trip to Arizona to prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl.
Like his head coach's unsolicited lashing out at meteorologists, Kraft delivered an unexpected press conference upon landing at Super Bowl week in Arizona to defend his team, his legacy, and to fire shots back at the media.
"If the (Ted) Wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular to coach (Bill) Belichick and Tom Brady, for what they've had to endure this week . . . I'm disappointed in the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon. We expect hard facts rather than circumstantial leaked evidence to drive the conclusion of this investigation."
Mr. Kraft, 11 out of 12 footballs your team was responsible for were deflated below NFL standards. Of the Colts' footballs, 12 out of 12 met compliance. This case would go to a grand jury. If it seems that I am jumping to unfair conclusions, I apologize. I see enough evidence to merit charges. Odds on a conviction are high, I believe. I don't care who pulled the trigger. The fact that the Deflatriots appear to me to have used a low-ranking team employee as a stool pigeon makes this seem a typical "cover-up-is-worse-than-the-crime" story.
Have you ever noticed that when somebody believes he has gotten away with something, he can become unexpectedly chatty? This is how some criminals get themselves caught. When the Deflategate story initially broke, why didn't we hear from Kraft that night? Is he pounding his chest now because of a false sense of security? I think that Kraft figures that there is no smoking gun to implicate his organization.
Getting high and mighty with calls for potential apologies reminds me of Bill Clinton's vehement denial against charges that he had sexual relations outside his marriage. There was no need for our president to announce anything, just as I believe there was no calling for Kraft's spiel. When the Patriots owner took shots at Richard Sherman for suggesting that the Seahawks' opponent will receive favorably biased treatment by his friend, the NFL Commissioner, Kraft didn't acknowledge the claim. He deflected it.
After Sherman said, "Will they be punished? Probably not. Not as long as Roger Goodell and Robert Kraft are still taking pictures at their respective homes," Kraft touted his magnanimous ways: "The NFL always used to pay fora big party for the AFC Championship game. We've been privileged to own the team for 21 years, and this was our 10th championship game. When the league stopped giving the parties, we started doing it. This is our third one."
Congratulations on that, Mr.Kraft. But, what does this, your generosity, have to do with Deflategate? This is now Redirect-gate. For my sniff test, there is now greater reason to believe something fishy occurred. Then again, this will seem like old news if the Patriots win on Sunday. It will be like New York City's un-blizzard that everybody talked about yesterday but will be mostly forgotten today.
If Kraft seriously expects an apology, he should call The Jerky Boys' Sol Rosenberg and ask how all those threatened lawsuits ("Sue everybody!") panned out.
Jared Max is a multi-award winning sportscaster. He hosted a No. 1 rated New York City sports talk show, "Maxed Out" — in addition to previously serving as longtime Sports Director at WCBS 880, where he currently anchors weekend sports. Follow and communicate with Jared on Twitter @jared_max.
