SAN FRANCISCO — There was no quid pro quo in place when Robert Kraft announced he is accepting the NFL’s Deflategate discipline Tuesday, according to commissioner Roger Goodell.
Kraft’s decision to move on from Deflategate will have no bearing on quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension appeal, Goodell said Wednesday as the NFL Spring Meeting was wrapping up. The commissioner also said he did not persuade Kraft to move on from Deflategate and accept the league’s punishment.
“The decision that Robert made was his decision,” Goodell said. “I admire and respect Robert, as you all know. We’ve had plenty of discussions over the last couple of weeks. This was his initiative and something he wanted to do, and I certainly admire the step he took. We may disagree on things, but that’s not unusual. That happens.”
Contrary to a report, Goodell said the NFL did not tell the Patriots to suspend staffers Jim McNally and John Jastremski for their role in Deflategate.
The NFL didn’t take the Wells Report at face value, he said, but added that the league is open to taking in new information and change its mind on discipline for quarterback Tom Brady.
“You read the report, you scrutinize it, but that’s also why you have a process,” Goodell said. “So, if issues are raised, either by an appeal or outside of that, you look at that and what you’re trying to do is get it right. I thought his report was very clear, it was comprehensive. But we’re always open if there’s new information that can get us to a better place.”
Goodell said he believes private investigators addressed the NFL’s role in leaking out information after the AFC Championship Game.
“A couple things on that: I think Ted Wells did address that in his report,” Goodell said. “I think he addressed it. I asked him specifically when I engaged him to evaluate the league’s conduct to determine what we could have done differently, and I think he made his views very clear in his report. So, I would disagree on that point. That is something that whenever we have an incident, we look at it, what we could have done differently, what could we improve. And we’ll continue to do that.”
Goodell was asked specifically about the initial inaccurate report 11 of the Patriots’ 12 footballs were two PSI under the allowed inflation. Goodell sidestepped the question.
“We’ve given all of that to Ted, and Ted’s had the opportunity to evaluate that,” Goodell said.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
