Plenty of New England Patriots fans hate Roger Goodell, but what do those in charge of the organization really think about the NFL commissioner? Is the disdain real?
The presumption, of course, has been that Patriots owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft, among others, would love to stick it to Goodell by overseeing another Super Bowl victory. That might be true — who doesn’t want to win the last game of the season? — but the relationship between Goodell and the Krafts also might not be quite as volatile as some believe.
Consider this from The MMQB’s Andrew Brandt, who published a piece Tuesday featuring 10 NFL thoughts ahead of the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI showdown with the Atlanta Falcons:
“There will be a lot of anticipation about a potential encounter between Roger Goodell, public enemy No. 1 according to Patriots fans, and the Krafts and Tom Brady next week. I cannot speak for Brady, but I have long been told that any friction between the Krafts and Goodell has been highly overrated. Robert and Jonathan Kraft maintain a good relationship with Goodell; they compartmentalize well. As to where they place blame for the two-year Deflategate saga, it is more on 1) the Colts (Jonathan Kraft had some choice words for outgoing general manager Ryan Grigson) and 2) NFL lawyers (when in doubt, blame the lawyers).”
Hmm…
Perhaps Brandt is correct and the Krafts really don’t feel much animosity toward Goodell despite his handling of Deflategate. Or perhaps he’s dead wrong and the Krafts hate Goodell more than we ever could imagine.
Either way, the latter narrative is much more fun to consider. So don’t expect Pats fans to hold back with their hatred, which we know to be very real and very, very strong.
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
