Be Careful What You Wish For

Tom Brady and Robert Kraft may want to rethink their strategy. Photo credit: NY Post

Is going to court to prove the NFL and Roger Goodell wrong really the best strategy for the Patriots, Robert Kraft, and Tom Brady?

by +Rodney Fisher


By now, we all have formed our own opinions about the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, Bill Belichek, Tom Brady, and Deflate-gate. With the punishment now handed down, we learn more about just what both player and team are going to do to appeal or defend this controversy. Many players and teams have taken the route of going to an arbitrator or court to prove their punishment unjust, but in this case would that be the right strategy when you are dealing with such a high profile character like Tom Brady?

You have to first examine the facts...

The NFL tried to do the Patriots a solid, once again, by not talking about the deflated footballs until after the Super Bowl. It was Robert Kraft, Bill Belichek,  and Tom Brady that held press conferences and made stern statements to vehemently deny the allegations. Kraft, owner of the Patriots, went as far to say that when the NFL finds these allegations false they will have to give us an apology. A strong statement to send before the league appoints and investigator to look into the charge.

Are we too naive to think that statement of defiance along with a half-hearted press conference by Tom Brady would not pour gasoline on the fire for the NFL to dig deep.

Let us not forget the first major solid the league and Roger Goodell did for the Pats in their last "gate" scandal by burning the only evidence that existed of the crime. He burned the tapes so that the public and media could not destroy the franchise's popularity after winning three Super Bowls.

All thoughts that Goodell's relationship with Kraft would lessen the blow have been proven false. Roger has 31 other teams that are directly affected by anything done on the field to give any team an unfair advantage, including making the footballs right for the star quarterback.

If the Pats decide to go to court to prove themselves right, they run the risk of more exposure to the inside culture of the team and the interactions of Tom Brady. If the text messages did not do enough, the exposure of Tom's intimidating influence could hurt the QBs public perception even more. When the "deflator" and his accomplice have to take the stand and give testimony under oath for the world to see who knows what information they might reveal about the culture of the team. The culture that has only one blemish on it's championship coat...cheating.

The only way out for the Brady and the team is do exactly what they did after "Spy-gate". Just go out there and win.

The Pats returned after being punished by the NFL for videotaping other teams and coaches and put together arguably one of the best NFL seasons in the modern era going 16-1. There only loss came in the Super Bowl. That year, Tom Brady and Randy Moss set a new touchdown record.

Nobody could say anything about the team cheating when they were beating everyone's ass under the watchful eye of everyone. If you want to prove a point, that is how you prove it.

Follow me on Twitter @RodneyRFisher