Kraft lets down his fans again

[bishbash]

friendly suggestion: Let this whole thing sit a bit an rethink this thought. Sometimes it's hard to judge a meal before it's fully digested.

i wish there were more patriots fans like you. You and that chevs54 cat are the best posters on this board.

 

[imapig]

That Jaric has always been the most loyal and caring Patriot fan on this board.

 

[Muse]

I did the same thing.

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

That Jaric has always been the most loyal and caring Patriot fan on this board.

"This creamed corn tastes like creamed crap."

 

[Number Cruncher]

I wish there were more Patriots fans like you. You and that chevs54 cat are the best posters on this board.

Now I KNOW you are a troll....

 

[Pneumonic]

I doubt Kraft, nor Brady, can do anything.

The Wells report was worded "more probable than not" in such a way as to encourage punishment in accordance with the league governing policy.

Vincent has the ammo needed to sock it to Brady.

 

[jetsknicks1]

Friendly suggestion: Let this whole thing sit a bit an rethink this thought. Sometimes it's hard to judge a meal before it's fully digested.

Right? He's only one of the best owners in the NFL. I give him the benefit of the doubt. I think Kraft sees that the league as a whole, is more important than any one one team and he's willing to get some egg on his and his franchises face to show even the best team in the league is not above dicipline (warranted or not).
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[bishbash]

I doubt Kraft, nor Brady, can do anything.

The Wells report was worded "more probable than not" in such a way as to encourage punishment in accordance with the league governing policy.

Vincent has the ammo needed to sock it to Brady.

I wonder if Gaadell will dare to call Brady into his office for a chat or just mail terms of punishment? If Brady were to go in for a pow-wow, I can't imagine Brady doing any grovelling like others before him that have been called in for alleged misdeeds. In fact, I could see Brady doing the talking.
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[Number Cruncher]

I think Kraft sees that the league as a whole, is more important than any one one team and he's willing to get some egg on his and his franchises face to show even the best team in the league is not above dicipline (warranted or not).

The actual crime in Spygate was basically Jaywalking... but Kraft did exactly what you mentioned... for the good of the league...

That was then.... this is now...

If GoodHELL tries to pull that same shit again, Kraft MUST fight it. Every way possible. Talk to the other owners...Say, "Next time you get your tits in a ringer with the union.. I will not "save football". I will not participate in any more tv negotiations and furthermore... I am putting aside a reserve of 5 million dollars to investigate each and every one of your teams to ensure that the playing field remains level and all teams are treated equally....

Bottom line is that there were more than one team pushing the envelope on videotaping.. and more than one team pushing the envelope on psi's in footballs... and more than one team pushing the envelope on tampering.... how many free agent signings were announced BEFORE the window for contacting them even started...

Kraft took one for the league in Spygate.. and he's done yeoman's work in dealing with the unions and television networks... this time the league can eat fvcking shit....

 

[Alco]

If it's just fines pay it and let it die. The haters will always hate. This report wasn't gonna stop them from crying cheaters no matter which way it went. As for the media, which will get you better ratings? Catering to one team's fans or thirty one teams?

 

[bishbash]

I doubt Kraft, nor Brady, can do anything.

The Wells report was worded "more probable than not" in such a way as to encourage punishment in accordance with the league governing policy.

Vincent has the ammo needed to sock it to Brady.

I wonder if Gaadell will dare to call Brady into his office for a chat or just mail terms of punishment? If Brady were to go in for a pow-wow, I can't imagine Brady doing any grovelling like others before him that have been called in for alleged misdeeds. In fact, I could see Brady doing the talking.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[deec77]

I wonder if Gaadell will dare to call Brady into his office for a chat or just mail terms of punishment? If Brady were to go in for a pow-wow, I can't imagine Brady doing any grovelling like others before him that have been called in for alleged misdeeds. In fact, I could see Brady doing the talking.
Posted via Mobile Device

It's going to be pretty awkward honoring Brady next year just saying.

~Dee~
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[bideau]

This article from SI is a very well written, impartial, look at the report and Brady's options. IMRCGO (In My Rose Colored Glasses Opinion), it's not very flattering of the investigation. But the interesting part is the discussion of Brady's options (more topical to this thread than the other). I won't reprint the entire article (too long), but here's the options it puts forth.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/05/06/nfl-deflategate-wells-report-legal-analysis

Brady could respond to the allegations in several ways.

1) Brady could accept responsibility and move on

Brady could issue a brief statement saying, in so many words, he takes responsibility for what is contained in the Wells Report and he’ll accept any punishment by the NFL. For Brady, the upside to this approach would be that it essentially ends the Deflategate controversy. The story would quickly become much less interesting if in fact the Wells Report is correct. Fans and Goodell might also applaud Brady for saying “I’m sorry.”

The downside for Brady would be that he would have admitted to engaging in deceitful conduct and behavior unbecoming of a player of his stature. He would presumably lose some fans in the process. Brady’s admission could also trigger an NFL suspension and, more importantly, badly harm his reputation. For the rest of his career, Brady could be ridiculed by opposing teams’ fans. He would be portrayed as a cheater, a label that critics of the Patriots often try to attach to the team since the Spygate scandal.
While unlikely, Brady admitting to wrongdoing could also lead his sponsors to reconsider their endorsement deals with him. Sponsors typically negotiate “morals clauses” that allow the sponsor to suspend or terminate payments to athlete endorsers when the athlete engages in controversial conduct.

2) Brady could deny the allegations and move on

Brady could instead issue a brief statement denying the allegations contained in the Wells Report and insist that he will never again talk about the subject. The upside for Brady in adopting this tactic would be that he goes on the record disputing the report but doesn’t expose himself to further questioning about it. This type of statement might also end the Deflategate controversy, especially if the NFL doesn’t punish Brady. Essentially, Brady and the NFL would agree to disagree.

The downside to this approach is obvious. Brady would be portrayed as hiding from the allegations, which would naturally lead some to disbelieve him. Brady also can’t control what questions journalists pose to him and, as Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch knows, NFL rules require he answer questions in press conferences. For some time, media would repeatedly ask Brady about the Wells Report and he would have to say, “no comment” or—to borrow Mark McGwire’s famous line—“I’m not here to talk about the past.” This type of questioning could become a distraction to Brady and his teammates.

3) Brady could blame the NFLPA and his lawyers

Brady could also dispute the Wells Report and attribute his unwillingness to share information with NFL investigators to directives given to him by the National Football League Players’ Association or his attorneys.

In the immediate aftermath of the Deflategate controversy, the NFLPA instructed Patriots players to not speak with NFL investigators. Also, unlike Patriots officials, Brady’s legal obligation to speak with Wells was not clear. Brady, like other NFL players, had a contractual obligation to give his “best efforts and loyalty,” but his legal relationship with the NFL is more complicated than the NFL’s relationship with Kraft, Belichick, McNally and other non-union Patriots employees who were subject to the Deflategate probe. Brady is a member of a union that has collectively-bargained employment protections for players suspected of wrongdoing. No requirement or rule expressly compelled Brady to assist in a league investigation over game equipment. It isn’t as if Wells was working for both the league and players’ association: only the NFL retained him.

Brady could also cite likely instructions from his attorneys that he not share his phone and other evidence. While some may automatically reason that Brady’s refusal to share his emails and texts suggests he was hiding something, there are three other ways of looking at a refusal to share. First, employers do not have an automatic right to access all of an employee’s electronic files, especially on those employees’ personal equipment (such as an iPhone an employee purchases for personal and work use).
Second, Brady’s employer is the Patriots, not the NFL. To the extent his employer had a right to access, Brady’s attorney might have insisted materials could only be shared with the Patriots. This is a fairly unconvincing argument. The Patriots play in a league of franchises and are contractually obligated to cooperate in league investigations. Still, it is a concern that Brady’s attorney might have raised.

Third, Brady may have been concerned about personal information in his electronic records being leaked to media. The NFL is infamous for leaks, including throughout the Deflategate scandal. Even though Wells and his team assured Brady they were only interested in relevant information, it would be understandable for Brady and his attorneys to question whether that assurance would be absolute.

The drawback for Brady in blaming the NFLPA or his attorneys would be that his critics would say he is blaming others for his own mistakes.

4) Brady could attack the Wells Report

In addition to attributing responsibility to directives from the NFLPA and his attorneys, Brady could also directly attack the Wells Report. Brady might build on comments by Kraft. Although the 72-year-old billionaire says he “accepts the findings of the report,” he adds, “To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement.”

Along those lines, while Wells is a well-respected attorney and his firm, Paul Weiss, is considered one of the best in the nation, Brady could highlight inherent limitations in the Deflategate probe.

First, the NFL hired Wells and his firm, thus limiting the “independent” quality of the report. When a business hires a law firm, an attorney-client relationship is formed. That relationship requires the law firm to advocate for the client. Wells also has a longstanding relationship with the NFL, having authored the 2014 probe into the Miami Dolphins and bullying. Is it a surprise, Brady might cynically ask, that Wells is directing blame onto a player—and the player who happened to be the first named plaintiff in the 2011 antitrust lawsuit brought by NFL players against the NFL—rather than onto an owner or coach? Brady’s dad, Tom Brady Sr., seems to have adopted this view, already dismissing the Wells Report as “Framegate.”
Second, as in any independent investigation, Wells lacked the power of subpoena. This means he could not compel disclosure of all evidence nor force a witness to speak with him. As a result, Wells might not have uncovered all of the relevant information. His blaming of Brady (and McNally and Jastremski) could thus reflect an incomplete narrative. After all, could other players have been more “generally aware” of wrongdoing than Brady?

Third, witnesses did not speak with Wells under oath. This means if witnesses lied to Wells, they would have done so without the threat of perjury charges. While there is no immediate reason to suspect lying or exaggeration occurred in the investigation, the lack of sworn testimony would be another structural limitation Brady might highlight.

5) Brady could file a defamation lawsuit against Wells, the NFL and Goodell

The boldest move by Brady would be to sue Wells, Paul Reiss, the NFL and Goodell for defamation. Brady could take a page from Jonathan Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against Goodell in the aftermath of the Bountygate report. Goodell had claimed that “prior to a Saints playoff game in January, 2010, defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked [opposing quarterback Brett] Favre out of the game.” Although not successful in court, Vilma’s lawsuit helped in getting his suspension overturned.

In a defamation lawsuit, Brady could contend that the statements contained in the Wells Report have caused him clear reputational harm. Brady would face an uphill battle in court. As a public figure, he’d have to prove false statements were made with “actual malice” (meaning intentionally or with knowledge). Brady would also be subject to pretrial discovery should his lawsuit advance past a motion to dismiss. Pretrial discovery would require Brady to answer questions under oath, a time-consuming and acrimonious process.

Don’t expect Brady to sue the NFL, but it would send a firm message that he believes he has been—as his dad says—framed.

 

[Darth Despot]

I have made a conscious decision not to follow this story so this will be my only post on the matter.

Kraft should release a statement resigning from all NFL committees he currently is a member of and walking out of next weeks owners meeting in protest. The statement should include the following line:

"I am frankly tired of making a lot of money for a bunch of assholes who are conspiring against my interests."

Belichick should release a list of all the chicanery he knows about from other teams, past present and future, naming names.

Brady should do the same, focusing on the crap that QBs pull.

Since none of that is likely to happen I've decided the NFL can kiss my ass.

No following this league as a whole anymore. No NFL, No ESPN, No PFT, No clickbait.

I will follow my team only.

**** em all.

 

[Darth Despot]

I have made a conscious decision not to follow this story so this will be my only post on the matter.

Kraft should release a statement resigning from all NFL committees he currently is a member of and walking out of next weeks owners meeting in protest. The statement should include the following line:

"I am frankly tired of making a lot of money for a bunch of assholes who are conspiring against my interests."

Belichick should release a list of all the chicanery he knows about from other teams, past present and future, naming names.

Brady should do the same, focusing on the crap that QBs pull.

Since none of that is likely to happen I've decided the NFL can kiss my ass.

No following this league as a whole anymore. No NFL, No ESPN, No PFT, No clickbait.

I will follow my team only.

**** em all.

 

[bideau]

The general consensus among the mediots is that Brady will get 2 games including the opener.

I may have read this suggestion in the other thread, but if that's the case, and if Kraft had any stones remaining, he would tell the NFL to screw and wait until Brady's first home game to celebrate SB49. Treat the Thursday night opener just like a normal Sunday game. One of the NFL's signature moments would be reduced to a run-of-the-mill night.

And heaven help Goodell if he shows up that night. He would need Presidential security to get out of town in one piece.

 

[mikiemo83]

I have made a conscious decision not to follow this story so this will be my only post on the matter.

Kraft should release a statement resigning from all NFL committees he currently is a member of and walking out of next weeks owners meeting in protest. The statement should include the following line:

"I am frankly tired of making a lot of money for a bunch of assholes who are conspiring against my interests."

Belichick should release a list of all the chicanery he knows about from other teams, past present and future, naming names.

Brady should do the same, focusing on the crap that QBs pull.

Since none of that is likely to happen I've decided the NFL can kiss my ass.

No following this league as a whole anymore. No NFL, No ESPN, No PFT, No clickbait.

I will follow my team only.

**** em all.

I agree, he should back his team and members of that team.


at this point, F Kraft.

Tired of the free pass the ass gets. and god help us when Jonathon takes over. he will be making Tebucky Jones type of picks based on his experience of buying a pop warner championship by renting to athletes parents to get them into his school zone.

 

[bishbash]

And heaven help Goodell if he shows up that night. He would need Presidential security to get out of town in one piece.

No matter what the punishment, this part will be interesting. Does the Furher, er, Commish usually attend NFL opening night?

 

[imapig]

Why isnt Don Yee statement posted on Patriots.com?
Is Kraft now distancing himself from Brady? I certainly hope not...

 

[Number Cruncher]

The general consensus among the mediots is that Brady will get 2 games including the opener.

I may have read this suggestion in the other thread, but if that's the case, and if Kraft had any stones remaining, he would tell the NFL to screw and wait until Brady's first home game to celebrate SB49. Treat the Thursday night opener just like a normal Sunday game. One of the NFL's signature moments would be reduced to a run-of-the-mill night.

And heaven help Goodell if he shows up that night. He would need Presidential security to get out of town in one piece.

I like this idea and would go one step further....


Since the entire stadium is basically season ticket holders.. I would suggest that all season ticket holders abstain from the game. I am not suggesting selling your tickets... I am suggesting letting an empty seat stand for the night.

Run of the mill game in front of an empty stadium. Heck, the Orioles did it.

I have 4 seats in 305 and would be willing to do this myself. I've been to a lot of games, missing one to make this statement would be worth it....