NFL team owners join hands with Roger Goodell in gang tackling the Patriots

Barry Petchesky, Deadspin:

Roger Goodell is expected to hand down a decision on Tom Brady’s Ballghazi appeal any day now. (Whichever day it comes, it will almost certainly be announced at 5:30 p.m.) Here’s a Pro Football Talk report that claims Brady’s camp and the NFL have held talks on a potential settlement that would take the decision out of the arbitrator’s Goodell’s hands.

This isn’t unusual. Even if almost all recent appeals have gone to decisions, it’s rare for one side or the other not to raise the idea of agreeing to a reduced punishment. PFT says that in this case, “no progress has been made toward a deal.” (“Hey Tom, you want to just take two games?” “Nah.”)

But the really interesting part of this report is the claim that Goodell is being urged to stand tough on his initial discipline:

Per the [league] source, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is being pushed by a small handful of influential owners to hold firm on the four-game suspension. Working against that pressure, however, is the fear that the four-game suspension would be wiped out by a federal court.

A fraternity (Latin frater : "brother") is a brotherhood, although the term sometimes connotes a distinct or formal organization and sometimes a secret society.

That is quite a fraternity that New England Patriots' owner Bob Kraft belongs to. Not wanting to upset the other 31 NFL owners with a lawsuit against the league, Kraft took his lumps with a $1 million fine and the loss of first and fourth round draft picks. That was a magnanimous gesture to "take one for the team."

The payment for Bob Kraft's good deed is

an open question whether these owners are arguing on behalf of the NFL, and actually care about deflated footballs, or whether they’d just like to see the Patriots lose their best player for a quarter of the season.

Imagine if Bob Kraft had gone to court to block the $6 billon payment that the teams split up last week until a DeFlateGate decision was determined? 31 rich guys wouldn't be whining about air pressure.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.


Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire. .

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