Kraft (c) said that he was happy to help both the NFL and Jay-Z work togetherGETTY IMAGES
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft discussed Jay-Z and Roc Nation's new partnership with the NFL, saying the rapper is a "good friend and we've been doing some stuff in some charitable areas and we were happy to introduce" him to the league. Kraft, appearing on WEEI-FM's "The Greg Hill Show," said he was happy to "help them work together" ("The Greg Hill Show," WEEI-FM, 8/21). ESPN's Jalen Rose said of Kraft's involvement in the Roc Nation-NFL deal, and of Dolphins WR Kenny Stills' criticism of Jay-Z over the partnership, "I need something to stop." Rose: "These individuals who seem to care so very much about the culture going back and forth in the public about it does not get us closer to the goal." Rose added if Jay-Z has the "ear of Roger Goodell, if he has the ear of Robert Kraft, if he can get the ear of Jerry Jones, now all of a sudden the movement" that Colin Kaepernick "sacrificed for has extreme momentum when we have a seat at the table" ("Jalen & Jacoby," ESPN2, 8/20).
RUN THIS TOWN: In West Palm Beach, Hal Habib noted Jay-Z was "on eight consecutive songs" at the Dolphins' practice yesterday, and coach Brian Flores was "behind it." Flores informed Stills of what he would be "hearing beforehand so it wouldn't come as a total shock or, worse, a slap at Stills' activism." It was not "immediately known how Stills received it" (PALM BEACH POST, 8/21). In Ft. Lauderdale, Safid Deen writes he is not sure "whether it was an ill-time joke or incidental mishap" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 8/21).
