Robert Kraft Is Not Happy
Just as Judge Richard M. Berman was telling the National Football League Player’s Association and NFL to get together and try to solve their issues, the New England Patriots went on the offense. Tired of looking like they are the new “Evil Empire” and accepting the wishes of King Roger Goodell the team and owner decided it was time to take off the gloves and get into a back alley brawl.
It started Wednesday when Owner Robert Kraft laid into his baby, the NFL. “…for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed….I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just.”
To read all of Mr. Kraft’s rant just click on the highlighted text and we’ll whisk you to Patriots.com for it in it’s entirety.
That was a huge step for one of the most powerful owners in the NFL. In the past Kraft had been a loyal, team player and backed Goodell when others were calling for his ouster (re: Ray Rice initial suspension)
Friday the Patriots took another hunk out of the League Office’s hide with a solid uppercut, this time with a series of e-mails showing the league ignored their early pleas to close off the leaks within the NFL offices and publicly correct errors that purposely implied things that weren’t true (example: 11 of 12 footballs dramatically under-inflated).
The E-mails were between Robyn Glaser, general counsel for the Patriots, and Jeff Pash, counsel for the NFL and who was overseeing the Wells investigation. They show attempts by the Patriots to get the NFL to correct initial misinformation being reported by the media and to investigate the sources of such misinformation , which could only have been league personnel (Mike Kensil) . Click on the highlighted portion and we’ll take you to the context of all the e-mails from February 17-18.
Judge Berman Say’s Tone It Down
Meanwhile, back at the ranch….
- The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to an expedited process that seeks a “final resolution” to the lawsuit before the start of the NFL season
- Mike Kensil, the NFL’s VP of game operation, has been identified by various sources as the individual responsible for the leaks from the NFL office (Read Goallinegazette article from Bill Bodell)
- To add to all the hype it has now been reported that Judge Berman’s hearing will be open to accredited media! That should be fun.
So, it’s turned into a 10 rounder and we’re just finishing round 5 with lots to come. Break out the beverage of your choice along with a snack or two, ’cause there’s still lots of blows to be thrown in this bare knuckles brawl.
So now you are caught up…until the next missive is launched. Punch and counter punch…punch and counter punch…etc…etc
By the way, did you notice I wrote this entire article without once mentioning Tom Brady…oops
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So lets state explicitly what it all means so even the haters get it… If Kensil or any other member of the NFL front office is the source of the blatantly false information that was leaked to the media after the AFCCG that was then intentionally left out there to fester for months by the NFL, then that means the NFL was clearly biased from the start and was intentionally trying to shape pubic opinion against the Patriots ahead of time. Why would the NFL need or want to do this? Who knows, but this extremely malicious bias is undeniable and clearly shows that for whatever reason, the NFL had a motive and desire to attack the NE Patriots from the very beginning. This behavior, until explained, completely calls into question the NFLs ability to perform any kind of independent investigation and cast a shadow on every statement and conclusion made by the NFL. This bias makes it far more probable than not that the Wells report was a blatant attempt to start with a foregone conclusion and work backwards from there rationalizing out some path that shows guilt. This would explain the shoddiness of the Wells Report and how completely and easily it has been shredded by various very intelligent and qualified people. The Wells report had scant evidence of anything and had to make very sketchy assumptions to get any of their calculations work which shows incredible bias in itself. This real story is not about the Patriots tampering with footballs, it’s about the NFLs railroad job as a result Mike Kensil’s and the other former Jets executives in the NFL’s front office to use their position of power to carry out their personal vendetta.
Lets review how public opinion was shaped (intentionally) by the NFL for months after the AFCCG:
– NFL leaks false info that 11 of 12 balls were 2 psi low (none were close to that low).
– NFL leaks false info that all 12 Colts balls were measured and non were out of range (when only 4 were measured and 3 of those were out of range on at least one guage).
– NFL leaks deceitful information about McNally giving the ref a non-approved kicking ball during the AFCCG (when it turns out that it was another NFL official that was stealing balls that gave that one to McNally).
– NFLs Senior VP Gardi sent an official NFL letter to the Pats telling them that one of the Pats balls measured 10.1 and all 11 Colts balls were measured to be in the range (both of which are blatant falsehoods). Gee that’s not an attempt to discourage the Pats from fighting the issue is it?
– For two months the Patriots request the actual measurements and the NFL refuses to give them to the Pats.
– The NFL finally relents and gives that Pats the measurements with the strict requirement that they cannot disclose them to anyone (media).
Thus not only is the NFL not correcting the lies they put out there to shape public opinion ahead of time, they are not allowing the Patriots to correct them either. No bias shown yet, huh?
Not to mention Kensil on the Patriots sideline in the 2nd half of the AFCCG taunting the Patriots equipment manager with the F word. No bias shown there huh?
These events call into question the actions and motives of the NFL and until these events are explained, pretty much every action and conclusion of the NFL after that point has to be considered in the context of the NFL having total bias against the Patriots for whatever reason.
You know why Mort suddenly turned chicken and decided not to go on WEEI today. It’s because it brings to light what this whole deflategate is about as mentioned above and how he was a tool for the NFL.
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