Patriots Owner Robert Kraft addressed reports of turmoil within the franchise prior to yesterday's AFC Championship game, saying some of this "just goes with the agenda." Kraft appeared on NFL Network's "NFL GameDay Morning" and said, "I have a saying -- jealousy and envy are incurable diseases. I've been around enough -- if you run any kind of company, any kind of business, the more successful you are, you have strong personalities. There's always a certain amount of tension." He noted he, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have been together for 18 years and said, "There's a lot of strong-minded people, but when you have something good going, everybody's got to get their egos checked in and try to hold it together" ("NFL GameDay Morning," NFL Network, 1/21). In Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes Brady and the Patriots "make for great TV," and for the next two weeks leading up to Super Bowl LII, a spotlight will be "trained on the alleged rocky relationship between quarterback and coach." Brady will "smile and not say much," Belichick "won't smile and will say even less" and the Patriots "will love it" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/22).
SAME NEWS, DIFFERENT YEAR: In Boston, Steve Buckley writes the Super Bowl is now "turning into the New England Patriots Invitational" as the team will make its third appearance in the game in four years and the eighth overall for the Belichick/Brady tandem (BOSTON HERALD, 1/22). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde writes, "The Patriots are the GOATs. Enough. Uncle. We give up. Tom Brady. Bill Belichick. They’re the Greatest of All-Time franchises" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 1/22).
