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 Electing not to escalate the Patriots' confrontation with the league
over the cheating controversy, Kraft said he disagreed with the
NFL's punishment but respected Commissioner Roger Goodell and wanted
to end the "rhetoric" swirling around the issue since January.
The National Football League punished the Patriots, one of the
league's most successful franchises, for purposely deflating
footballs used in the team's 45-7 playoff victory over the
Indianapolis Colts that put New England in the Super Bowl. The NFL
imposed a record fine and took away New England's 2016 first-round
draft choice and a 2017 fourth-round pick.
At a news conference at an NFL owners meeting in San Francisco,
Kraft said, "I don't want to continue the rhetoric that's gone on
for the last four months."
He said he was "going to accept, reluctantly" the penalty given by
the league and "not continue this dialogue and rhetoric. We won't
appeal."
In addition to the actions against the club, the NFL suspended star
quarterback Tom Brady, one of the league's biggest stars, without
pay for the first four games of next season but Brady is appealing
his punishment..
The players union on Tuesday formally requested that Goodell recuse
himself as the arbitrator in Brady's case, saying his "history of
inconsistently issuing discipline ... makes him ill-suited to hear
this appeal in a fair-minded manner."
Kraft was a key ally of Goodell when the commissioner faced close
scrutiny for his discipline of players involved in domestic violence
incidents.
Tuesday's remarks on "Deflategate" represented a change in tone for
Kraft, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing by the Patriots. The
team last week issued a blistering rebuttal to the NFL's
investigation into how footballs were deflated below league
standards in the AFC title game, calling it incomplete, incorrect
and out of context.
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The report by Ted Wells, an investigator hired by the NFL, said two
Patriots employees, officials' locker room attendant Jim McNally and
equipment assistant John Jastremski, carried out the plan.
The report said Brady was likely aware of the scheme to deflate the
footballs, which could allow the quarterback to better grip the
ball.
"I might disagree with what was decided," Kraft said of the
Patriots' penalty. "But I do have respect for the commissioner and
believe that he is doing what he believes is in the best interest of
the full 32 (teams)."
The scandal erupted in the run-up to the Feb. 1 Super Bowl in which
New England defeated the Seattle Seahawks.
(Reporting by Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Mary Milliken, Will Dunham
and Bill Trott)
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