Patriots fans have slightly more faith in Owner Robert Kraft and his son, Jonathan, than they do coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady, according to the seventh annual survey from Massachusetts-based Channel Media & Market Research. In a recent poll, 85% of fans said they have "complete faith" in the Krafts as owners, whereas Belichick and Brady rated at 82% and 75%, respectively. Those results come on the heels of a Super Bowl loss to the Eagles after a year in which fans questioned both the trade of QB Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers and the decision to bench CB Malcolm Butler in the title game. The relationship between Kraft, Brady and Belichick was also a topic of discussion for much of the NFL offseason. As a possible result of the rumored turmoil and questionable personnel decisions, 28% of fans in a separate question said they would like the team to "ease the tension" within the organization, while 20% want the team to be more upfront and honest with the fanbase. Meanwhile, Robert Kraft also topped a poll of which New England owner/ownership group had done the best job in the past year, finishing ahead of the Red Sox' John Henry and Tom Werner and the Celtics' Wyc Grousbeck. Below are three charts from the Channel Media survey in regards to the Patriots' standing across the New England region.
BRADY NOT DONE YET: In Boston, Tom Curran noted the epilogue to Patriots QB Tom Brady's "Tom vs. Time" series debuted yesterday, and Brady "leaves the door plenty open for an early departure, but states again that his preference is to play until he's 45" (NBCSPORTSBOSTON.com, 9/5). In the episode, Brady said of his relationship with Belichick, "Any time you're together with people for a long period of time, relationships ebb and flow. And I think people are just looking for something to write and talk about. ... They want to talk about a lot of drama. I'm sure a lot of teams have things like that, but ours is just to the 10th degree. I'm learning to deal with it better. I don't still give a (expletive) that much anymore, about anything." Brady added, "I'm not ready to say that I'm done, because I don't think that I am. I still feel like there are things I'd like to accomplish" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/6).
THREE FOR THE ROAD: In Boston, Steve Buckley noted the "one constant through all the years" for the Patriots has been the trio of Belichick, Brady and Kraft. People are "never going to stop considering them as part of a whole, and for the simple reason that we will never again see a coach-quarterback-owner championship troika the likes of this." It is "going to end, of course," and given the "many mysterious subplots that have been playing out in Foxboro over the last couple of years, there's a chance it's going to end badly." Buckley: "We're already seeing the cracks. ... But all this is going to do is make the story even better" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/5).
