Tag Archives: Robert Kraft

New England Patriots Super Bowl XLIX Ring: Capping An Era

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Patriots frontLast February the New England Patriots won their 4th Super Bowl championship in the last 14 years. Coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have been front and center for each one. In doing so they became only the second coach /quarterback combo to achieve 4 titles in the Super Bowl era. On Sunday they attended a ceremony hosted by Robert Kraft to receive the hardware commemorating the event.

With all that has hit this organization over the last couple of years, you knew Kraft was going to go all out. Detractors had said Belichick hadn’t won since Spy-Gate. The legacy of Tom Brady as the best quarterback of his generation, was in question by some pundits. Victory in Super Bowl XLIX completely laid those to rest.

First off the team had gone undefeated, played in two Super Bowls, and appeared in two more AFC Championship Games since. So where the Patriots hadn’t won since Spy-Gate argument came from never made sense. How Tom Brady held a 3-1…oops make that 4-1 advantage in Super Bowl victories somehow had him behind Peyton Manning was lunacy.

Patriots side 2Going into Super Bowl XLVI, I already gave Belichick his laurels. Where Vince Lombardi was the NFL’s greatest coach of the first 50 years of pro football, Belichick is the greatest of the last 50. Eight trips to the AFC championship game, six Super Bowl appearances with four wins. No one comes within hailing distance of that type of performance.

It will be interesting to watch how pundits speak of this era of Patriot championships in the future. The first dynasty ended with their victory in XXXIX against the Eagles. Yet they won consistently for the next decade before winning it all 10 years later. Someone might bring up the 1980-1990 San Francisco 49ers, but they didn’t have two more trips to the Super Bowl between championships during their tenure. Just NFC Championship losses to the Dallas Cowboys.

Patriots sideWhat about the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990’s who won 3 championships in 4 years?? Well the first dynasty equaled that feat of 3 in 4 years and consistently won for a decade after that, appearing in 3 more Super Bowls winning one. Dallas won only 1 playoff game in the next decade after that.

Now if we put the Patriots up against the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s and the Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s the debate intensifies. Many will point to the Spy-gate and Deflate-gate incidents to tarnish their accomplishments, yet it’s not enough.

This run for sustained excellence is one of the best in NFL history. As The Chancellor of Football, looking at this ring I don’t think of  the 2014 championship, I think about the closing of an era. Last year they won on guile and quarterback know how, they weren’t clearly the best team. Yet they didn’t have to be.

Winning back in February had more to do with the championship mettle Belichick and Brady were able to instill in a new group of Patriots. Much like the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1995 Dallas Cowboys, and the 1967 Green Bay Packers they barely finished ahead of the pack. Will they do so in 2015?? You’ll need to read the previous article to see how The Chancellor thinks they’ll fare in 2015. It’s this bauble that cemented the legacies of the Patriots, Belichick, and Brady.

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The Chancellor’s Take on Deflategate

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nfl-iphone-wallpaper-2Well here we go again as the New England Patriots are locked in the latest scandal involving deflated footballs. I’ll be brief… A new football is like a new baseball glove. You work it in and squeeze it rub it and get the sheen off of it so you can get a better grip. This is common place in the NFL of not only quarterbacks but kickers.

Remember the introduction of the “K” ball??  The NFL believed that the higher percentage of field goals made was directly related to kicking “worked in” footballs. So the decision came down to have a series of balls marked with a “K” that were hands off to teams. The other balls they were able to throw, squeeze, and work in the 12 they want to use for game play. Every team does it…every quarterback does it.

The late Weeb Ewbank, who coached the Jets to victory in Super Bowl III, once said at a coaches clinic  “All I want is my fair advantage!” Which means everyone is pushing the envelope of what they can get away with or at least moving ever so close to the line.

However it has set in that the rest of the NFL is tired of the New England Patriots. Not one active quarterback came to Tom Brady’s defense as “Deflate-gate” was first investigated. They’re all squeezing and working in balls all the time. Where they have overstepped their bounds is having the equipment guy taking the air out of the football. That is what will get the Patriots and Roger Goodell in trouble.

The Patriots are in trouble because of their history with “Spy-Gate” and the $250,000 fine levied against them. This makes them a repeat offender. In a year where the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons were penalized for pumping in crowd noise, expect a heavy fine. Richard Sherman pointed a light at Roger Goodell’s chummy relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft during Super Bowl week. That spotlight is about to intensify…

Richard Sherman's comment about the relationship between Roger Goodell and Robert Kraft are coming back to haunt.

Richard Sherman’s comment about the relationship between Roger Goodell and Robert Kraft are coming back to haunt.

Did you notice the decision came down 1 week after the draft?? Now the Patriots can’t be penalized draft picks for this season. That will cause a groundswell of anger amid owners over this next week. Looks like a “scratch my back” move by Goodell and it can come to cost him. When it comes to competitive balance you have to be decisive and the punishment severe. The man that will have to be suspended when the axe falls is Tom Brady.

Brady wasn’t forthright in dealing with the investigation and lied about his involvement. Of course he knew what was being done because its the quarterback who selects what 12 balls a team is going to use on gameday. As Goodell has been harsh with his suspensions of players over domestic abuse and non-competitive violations, he has to be harsh here. Brady has to be suspended between 4-6 games or Goodell will come off favoring Kraft again.

The other owners shouldn’t stand for a suspension less than that and there will be grumblings from players if the punishment isn’t severe either. Black players will come forward stating Goodell won’t harshly punish a prominent white player. Teams that face the Patriots in the first 4-6 weeks will rally on the side of suspending Brady for those reasons. More importantly, Goodell is going to have to face the Richard Sherman allegation of favoring the New England Patriots owner.

During Super Bowl week, Robert Kraft vehemently demanded an apology for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady if they were cleared of wrong doing. Now that they haven’t all eyes are on Goodell in New York.

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