It may be a while before a resolution is reached in the case involving Robert Kraft and several other individuals who were charged with solicitation of prostitution in Florida, but the NFL does not have to wait for the legal process to play out before taking disciplinary action. According to one report, the league could come down hard on Kraft to send a message to other teams and owners.
Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman ran through a number of possible outcomes for Kraft, and the “general consensus” he gathered from speaking with league sources is that Kraft’s punishment could be severe. Part of that has to do with the NFL not wanting to look like it went easy on arguably the league’s most powerful team owner, and the Personal Conduct Policy also states that owners will be held to an even higher standard than players.
“Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard, and will be subject to more significant discipline when violations of the Personal Conduct Policy occur,” a portion of the policy reads.
The last time a team owner faced disciplinary action from the NFL was in 2014, when Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was arrested for driving while intoxicated and four counts of possession of a controlled substance. He pleaded guilty and was fined $500,000 and suspended for six months by the NFL.
Kraft initially denied through a spokesperson that he engaged in any illegal activity, but there is video footage that allegedly shows very clearly that he engaged in illegal sexual activity at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Fla.
Freeman added that there’s also a chance Kraft could just be fined and not suspended, and the odds of that would increase if the 77-year-old can continue to distance himself from the sex trafficking aspect of the investigation. Some also wonder if Kraft could be so embarrassed that he steps away from the Patriots and turns over day-to-day operations to his son Jonathan, but that would be very surprising.
