Kraft leaves it open to SI that he may take the NFL to court over ‘Deflategate’
For the first time since the NFL napalmed
Gillette Stadium following their investigation into ‘Deflategate,’ Patriots
owner Robert Kraft has finally broken his silence.
Speaking to Peter King of SportsIllustrated, Kraft expressed his personal disdain and scorn towards the NFL over
their handling and subsequent punishments levied against his franchise, and
more specifically Tom Brady. Since minute-one, Kraft has vehemently denied that
Tom Brady had any role to play in the scandal, and Kraft reinforced that
sentiment in his interview with King.
Through their 50-minute interview by
phone over the weekend, King described Kraft as “alternately angry and
defiant." Kraft told King that it’s “just not fair” for the team to receive the
harshest penalty in league history due to “ambiguous, circumstantial evidence." The Patriots were of course fined $1
million, stripped of their 2016 first-round pick and their 2017 fourth-round
pick, and saw Brady suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season.
When asked by King if Kraft would be
willing to violate NFL bylaws and sue the NFL in an effort to overturn the
penalties, Kraft was noncommittal, saying, “I’m
not going to comment on that at this point in time. I’m going to leave it. I
won’t say.”
If Kraft were to sue the NFL, it
would signal an unprecedented move from arguably the most powerful owner in the
sport.
Looks like Goodell and the NFL might've bitten off a little more than they can chew!