After Patriot owner Robert Kraft ended the fight with the league, QB Tom Brady felt betrayed.
The ghost of DeflateGate past seems to be resurfacing again after the release of “12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Season of Redemption“, which is a gives a behind the scenes look at the Patriots during deflate gate.
When Kraft held a news conference in May 2015 to announce he would accept Brady’s four-game suspension and the loss of draft picks after the league accused Brady of conspiring to deflate footballs in the 2014 AFC Championship, the quarterback called NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith to express his outrage.
“What the f–k,” Brady said, according to “12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Fight for Redemption,” which was released Tuesday. “Why am I not getting the support I deserve on this thing?”
DeflateGate was far from over. Brady went on to appeal the suspension while being backed by the Players’ Association prior to the 2015 season. Brady won his appeal but was eventually overturned prior to the 2016 season. That was done not on the grounds that Brady deflated footballs, but that as commissioner, Goodell had leeway to do whatever he wanted in the scope of dishing out suspensions.
“No matter what Kraft says, it has no bearing on our appeal of the four-game suspension,” Smith reportedly told Brady. “We’ll be ready for that. Trust me.”
Brady felt betrayed by Kraft because he caved in and ended the fight. Kraft simply caved after being pressured by the rest of the owners in the league but Tom felt he should have pressed on. This could be why Belichick has had his issues with Kraft recently. Belichick has his own plan for the Patriots, including the future and the QB’s on staff, but Kraft betrayed Tom once, he wasn’t doing it again. I don’t blame Tom for being angry with ownership not supporting him. He went after the league all by himself without the backing of the very team he has been loyal to his entire career. When Kraft took to that podium and backed down, he was completely bowing down to the league and admitting guilt.
