The NFL is "working solely on its own accord to reach a conclusion" regarding disciplinary action against Patriots QB Tom Brady in the wake of the Wells Report's findings on Deflategate, and there "have been zero negotiations" between the league and the team to resolve the matter, according to sources cited by Jeff Howe of the BOSTON HERALD. Sources added that the NFL is "not dealing with the Patriots or Brady in any sort of way" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/11). THE MMQB's Peter King writes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "will be a piñata regardless what decision he makes." The league has said that both Goodell and NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent are "making the call, but this one’s going to have Goodell’s name on it." King: "It has to" (MMQB.SI.com, 5/11).
NO-WIN SITUATION: ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. noted Goodell is "between a rock and hard place" regarding a possible suspension for Brady, as he is "very close with Bob Kraft, although of course that relationship has eroded significantly in the past few months." However, other team owners are "watching very closely ... to see what he does here in this appeal." Van Natta: "I would be very surprised if he doesn't come down very hard on Tom Brady -- as well as possibly the coach and the franchise -- for the lack of cooperation that we saw in this investigation.” ESPN's Andrew Brandt said, "Everyone is sort of looking to this and seeing if he is going to come down hard on his friend, on his colleague, as opposed to the other owners.” Van Natta: "This is an opportunity for Roger Goodell to consolidate his power and to send a message to the other 31 owners that, ‘I am going to hold somebody who you perceive to be a buddy of mine, somebody very close to me -- I am going to hold Robert Kraft and this franchise to account.’ So it is an opportunity for Roger Goodell to really reassert himself and put that horrible year behind him” (“OTL,” ESPN, 5/10).
BIG DEAL? A BOSTON GLOBE editorial stated playing by the rules "matters," but the Patriots are "sending a different, win-at-any-cost message." Setting that example "can have repercussions well beyond the football field, and it should stop" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/9). But ESPN.com's Mike Reiss wrote Goodell has "erred badly from the start with the league's handling of the Patriots and underinflated footballs." Reiss: "I truly can't believe what the commissioner has done to the legacy and reputation of one of the greatest quarterbacks and ambassadors in the history of the game -- all over air pressure in a football and without definitive proof he had anything to do with it" (ESPN.com, 5/10). In Boston, Steve Buckley writes, "Rarely has an issue divided actual players as this one has, to the shocking degree that it has taken on a Civil War-like quality: Brother against brother." Former Patriots teammates and current ESPN analysts Tedy Bruschi and Damien Woody last week "sat across the table from each other late last week as they debated Deflategate" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/11).
SEPARATING THE MAN AND THE BRAND: GRANTLAND's Charles Pierce wrote Brady "has been getting terrible advice from heaven and earth" ever since this "whole exercise in manufactured Stupid began." People have "been protecting" Brady's brand "at the expense" of Brady as a person. The brand "is the reason you offer categorical denials when you don’t have to offer them." It is why your agent "goes into orbit when silence would better serve the client." The brand "survives news cycle to news cycle," while the person "has to live with the consequences, for good and ill." For some time, there "has been something a bit off about Brady’s entourage, something that serves" the brand "as much as it serves" the person (GRANTLAND.com, 5/8).
