Written By Don Banks at SI.com
I suppose it never hurts to ask. Not that Patriots owner Robert Kraft sounds optimistic that his letter will produce its desired result. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been very vulnerable to appeals of his decision-making of late, but only in a court of law or before an arbitrator. Not so much when an NFL owner merely sits down and writes him a strongly-worded missive asking him to overturn perhaps his most heavy-handed edict yet.
Make no mistake, in disclosing Monday that he wrote Goodell a letter more than a month ago beseeching the commissioner to reinstate the first- and fourth-round draft picks that New England lost in the league’s Deflategate ruling—as well as throw out Tom Brady’s original four-game suspension—the Patriots’ owner was actually addressing his team’s outraged fans more than he was the commissioner.
That’s why it was Kraft writing that letter, rather than a high-priced team of attorneys. Even if the latter represents a long shot, the former has no shot to succeed. Which Kraft seems to fully grasp but can’t admit for appearances’ sake. With the draft looming about five weeks away, he wants to be seen as standing up for his team in the eyes of the fans, while remaining a team player in the eyes of the league. Thus, a letter, but no lawyers. Might as well fire off a terse note to the White Star Line, voicing his displeasure about how that whole maiden voyage of the Titanic turned out.
“I personally wrote a letter to the commissioner responding to his comment that if any new facts came up, he would take them into consideration,” said Kraft here, convening with reporters on the first full day of the NFL’s annual meeting at the Boca Raton Resort. “I personally believe that when the league made their decision, they did not factor in the Ideal Gas Law. They admitted that publicly. They had a full year of being able to observe Tom Brady play with all the rules of whatever the NFL was, and make any judgments there. We have laid it out pretty straightforward and now it’s up to them to decide.”
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