Falcons Owner Arthur Blank on Thursday said that there is a "'general feeling' that the Patriots' failure to acknowledge mistakes added to the punishment they received for deflating footballs," according to Charles Odum of the AP. Blank said of the NFL, "When they find any organization or any individual has gotten off those tracks it's their job to remind them of that and bring them back on the tracks and do it in a way that really reinforces what the league is about." He added, "That seems to be the general feeling, that some of the frustration whether on an individual basis or organizational basis, was the failure to acknowledge." Blank addressed the relationship between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, saying, "After things are processed, Robert will be in a good place, I think the commissioner will be in a good place" (AP, 5/14). Blank said of the discipline against the Patriots, "The process that (the NFL) went through was very thoughtful. Mr. (Ted) Wells is a highly regarded independent investigator. I read the report ... I read the appendix. I read the independent reports done by the ‘experts,’ if you will." He added of Kraft, "What he’s going through has nothing to do with my respect for (Kraft). My respect for him is well earned over my 14 years of working with him as an owner. He’s one of the owners that when he stands up and talks in the room, everybody listens, and the reason is Robert has earned the reputation of thinking about the league first; not about my club first. He takes care of his club as well, but the league first" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/15).
LEAGUE LEVEL: A PROVIDENCE JOURNAL editorial runs under the header, "The NFL's Injustice." The editorial: "There are reasons to doubt the NFL is playing fair here" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 5/15). Former Dolphins assistant coach Jim Turner, who was fired following Wells' investigation into the team's '13 bullying scandal, said, "The one thing that stands out to me is just how smart [Patriots QB] Tom Brady is. He didn't trust Wells. If he did, then he would have complied a little more." Turner added, "Wells is not a good human being. And when I didn't give him the story he wanted, he targeted me as part of a problem in Miami. ... He's hired by the NFL. He's going to print the story that they want printed" ("Mad Dog Sports Radio," SiriusXM Radio, 5/14).
LAWYER UP: In Boston, Steve Buckley writes each new day during the Deflategate saga "brings a new legal brief, a new report, a new 'report in context.'" It is "not really about guilt or innocence anymore." It is a "giant game of Gotcha! -- representatives from one side spitting on the latest serving of legal porridge being ladled out by representatives from the other side. And we get to play along" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/15).
