Yeah, but not all 31 owners, it said that there were some owners that were pressuring him to not back down. The clear implication is that the initial action was Goodell's. And it makes sense that the NFL office ran with Deflategate after Kensil leaked the erroneous information rather than allow the story that a league office employee was embezzling from charity get traction.
I think to really kick the NFL in the nuts this thing has to be television documentary to connect the dots for the (largely unread) public at large.
Honorable or not, I do in part blame Bob Kraft. He has miscalculated repeatedly and his feeble actions have blown up in his face at almost every turn. He backed down to the bully and Goodell has responded by pushing him around at every turn - I half expect Roger to give Bob a wedgie at the 50-yard line the next time he shows up in Foxboro. Frankly I think Kraft has come off as naive and desperate to be accepted by the Billionaires Boys Club and Joe Masshole alike. Goodell and the other owners have nothing to fear from hurting the Patriots like this and much of that is on Kraft.
Color me jaded, but I think the information is already out there, and mostly what you'd get from a 30-for-30 type expose would be a big yawn and a "Simmons is a Pats fan" reaction.
His PR could have been better and maybe even if he's acted tough he might have even convinced a tough guy like you that he's a tought guy too but what course of action would have actually gotten Kraft a better result here?
There was no legal recourse that made sense, as we have noted again and again.
Legal recourse didn't matter.
Exactly. From the very beginning, Kraft acted like it was a load of nonsense and that any investigation would clear the Patriots of wrongdoing. Then he figured he'd just act like his usual loyal footsolider and everything would be fine. This is the kind of thing that should have been nipped in the bud from the very beginning -- by the time the Wells Report was released, it had gotten too far out of hand for anyone to address.
Without a doubt, the praise that Kraft Goodell may have saved his job after the Ray Rice fiasco. He is a victim of his own creation.
Well when you are instructed by the league to NOT correct it, what the hell could they do?
Yeah, the IT guys
I never really got this part. Given that they were being roasted, why didn't the Pats leak the truth to someone like Schefter?
Kraft could have not called Jerry Jones and pressured him to take the crap punishment for going over the cap in an uncapped year. Jones rightfully called him out on that during this whole mess.
Well, if it was about Kraft and not Brady, then the NFL going to the wall to suspend Brady, then appeal the ruling, etc. would seem to be overkill no?
What would the extra punishment had been if they did? Another draft pick? More money? I would have done it just to see what the NFL's response would have been. Did they ever address WHY they asked the Patriots to do that?
IANAL, but I would think that Wells would need something in writing, in case things went sideways and the NFL tried to leave him holding the bag.
There's plenty to lose. Twenty years after the fact, we just had Jerry Jones admit that the other owners went against the Raiders moving to LA because Al Davis sued the league. There will be a time in the future that Jonathan will not want that kid of thing hanging over his head every time he tries to get something done or sits down at the owners meeting table.
Good point, but I thought Jonathan was the one with the fire in his belly. Besides, the Patriots aren't moving anywhere. And this isn't quite like the David/Rozelle thing in that nearly everyone involved -- even the other owners -- know that Goodell screwed this up. They just differ about how he screwed it up. There's more of a "you could be next" situation in this than there was with Al Davis.
That was McNair, the other NFL owner in Texas. I don't find your argument persuasive, however, since the Pats have now entered "repeat offender" status and the next penalty is going to be even worse. The only viable strategy was to make this whole thing as painful for the NFL as possible. Had to let Roger & Co. know that the next time they wanted to zap the Pats, it was going to require a huge investment of time, personnel, and energy as there would be heavy resistance at every turn. Making them ask "Is this really going to be worth it?" was the only way to limit the incompetence and vindictive mischief down the line.
Sorry for the "whining." Thought this thread was about Deflategate.
Rehashing stances like how disappointed one is in Kraft for not suing the league - when it wouldn't have done anything positive, wouldn't have accomplished anything, would have done huge damage to him personally and his team's future, etc etc etc - is, yes, whining. Whatever thread you want to park that in.
You missed the whole point. It wasn't about winning this round but limiting how many rounds you'd have to play in the future. Rounds that you are highly likely to lose.
And you're missing the point that it wouldn't have accomplished that and in fact would have worsened future rounds, while probably increasing the odds of them existing.
"Rehashing?" I didn't hash it the first time. In fact, I thought suing was a bad idea then and that the "we will take our medicine, no matter how unfair it is, and hope you come to your senses re Brady's suspension" was a good gesture. Now, after Goodell's stubborn and idiotic intransigence? I'm not sure sure. As someone else here intimated, at some point, if you don't push back, you're begging to be bullied again.
How many owners are up in arms about how the Saints were completely disembowled as an organization for a bounty scandal that we now know didn't really happen?
