Patriots owner Robert Kraft: ‘I was wrong to put my faith in the league’
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he regrets not taking legal action against the National Football League, which on Tuesday upheld its a four-game suspension of quarterback Tom Brady.
A day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell refused to reduce Brady’s penalty for his involvement in the Patriots’ deflated-ball controversy, Kraft called the NFL’s decision “unfathomable.” Kraft spoke at a news conference at the start of the team’s training camp on Wednesday, hours after Brady released a statement saying neither he nor anyone in the Patriots’ organization has done anything wrong.
“I was wrong to put my faith in the league,” Kraft said.
Kraft said the league’s handling of the matter has been “frustrating and disconcerting” and said he regrets not fighting penalties the NFL levied against the team in May that included a $1 million fine.
“I was optimistic the league would have what they wanted,” Kraft said at the televised news conference. “I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.”
The NFL Players Association, which described Goodell’s decision as “outrageous,” has said it would file an appeal on behalf of Brady, who stands to lose about $1.75 million in salary during his ban. The NFL’s Management Council sued the union first, asking a court to confirm Goodell was within his rights to uphold the discipline.
In rejecting Brady’s appeal, Goodell noted Brady had his personal mobile phone destroyed just before meeting with investigators, an act the commissioner said was an effort to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the probe. Brady, 37, contended that he replaced his broken phone after his attorneys made it clear to the NFL that his device wouldn’t be subject to investigation under any circumstances.
“To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong,” Brady said in his statement.
Kraft said the NFL “intentionally implied nefarious behavior” and minimized Brady’s participation in the investigation, which concluded the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player was probably at least generally aware that two Patriots staffers deflated game balls below the league’s minimum air pressure before last season’s conference championship game.
“Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore the entire situation,” Kraft said, “Its completely incomprehensible that the league takes steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect. It’s sad.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick declined to address the issue, saying the team is focused on getting ready for the start of the 2015 season.
Full text of Robert Kraft’s statement
In light of yesterday’s league ruling, I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.
The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which 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 level of footballs.
I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans because I truly believe that what I did in May, given the actual evidence of this situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the psi level of footballs leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.
Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner Goodell was released in a similar manner under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady Destroyed His Cellphone.” This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure the fact the NFL still has no hard evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs. It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during the relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA employee that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.
Tom Brady is a person of great integrity and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field.
Yet, 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. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football. I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know that there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good.
I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took, the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.
I have often said, “If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.” I had hopes that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.
Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league.
Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.
Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.
This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Patriots owner Robert Kraft: ‘I was wrong to put my faith in the league’."