Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, today held a press conference at the NFL Spring Meeting in San Francisco and stated that he “won’t appeal” the NFL’s punishment for #DeflateGate.
Kraft did make it clear that he still doesn’t agree with Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to fine the Patriots $1 million and take away two draft picks for the team's role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game against the Indiana Colts.
Kraft’s decision is showing is pragmatic side because only a few days ago, Kraft went in hard on NFL Commissioner Goodell’s decision saying the penalty was “way over the top, unreasonable and unprecedented.”
More than disgusted with the Ted Wells report, which was the result of the investigation into the deflation of footballs by the New England patriots and ordered by the NFL Commissioner, Kraft told Peter King of MMQB:
"I just get really worked up. To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair. The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn’t fair. If we’re giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting. But in this report, every inference went against us … inferences from ambiguous, circumstantial evidence all went against us. That’s the thing that really bothers me."
Today is new day and Kraft has a new attitude: “I’m gonna accept — reluctantly…
at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective 32” teams in the NFL.
Now what wasn’t stated in Kraft’s brief press conference in San Francisco is whether the Patriots decision to not appeal the #DeflateGate sanctions includes Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
A reporter did ask the question whether the decision not to appeal includes Tom Brady as Kraft left the podium, but Kraft did not answer to the reporter’s question.
Kraft did not take or answer any questions.
Now we wait for Tom Brady and/or the NFL Players Association.