As we wait to see how NFL commissioner Roger Goodell plans to handle the appeal of Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft does not sound like he is ready to accept that his three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback will miss time during the 2015 regular season.
While speaking to reporters at a charity event on Tuesday, Kraft indicated that he has not ruled out the possibility of Brady’s suspension being overturned.
“We’re part of a system and we’ll follow the rules,” he said when asked about Goodell hearing the appeal, via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. “It’s our hope that opening game here, that we’ll have the privilege of having everyone who deserves to be on the field starting that game. I know that’s what our fans want and what we want.”
When Robert Kraft accepted the NFL’s punishment against the Patriots’ organization, my gut reaction was that he must have cut some sort of deal with Goodell. Nothing has happened between then and now that has made me want to change that stance.
It would be a shock if Brady’s suspension wasn’t reduced at all, just as it would be a shock if it was overturned completely. Most people agree that Goodell will settle on something in the middle, whether that is a two-game suspension or Brady only misses the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The one X-factor, in my opinion, is Brady’s cell phone. If Kraft and Goodell did cut a deal, perhaps it involves Brady “turning over” his phone and Goodell “not finding” any evidence. That would, in theory, allow Goodell to justify cutting or overturning the suspension.
