Tom Brady’s fate is still up in the air, but the Patriots owner Robert Kraft will accept the heavy fine and loss of draft picks levied by the NFL.
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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has announced that the Patriots organization will not appeal the punishments levied against the team in the aftermath of Deflategate.
Speaking at a brief media session on Tuesday, Kraft declared that the greater good of protecting the NFL and the future of all 32 teams outweighed his personal disagreements with the punishments NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down earlier this month.
As punishment for being caught illegally deflating footballs in the AFC Championship Game below their legal minimum, the NFL fined the Patriots $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks: a 1st-round pick in 2016 and a 4th-round pick in 2017. In addition, Patriots QB Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season for his role in allegedly asking equipment managers to deflate the footballs.
Kraft stated that the rhetoric and implications had become tiring and was no longer interested in drawing out the process, preferring to simply end it now and not continue a fight with the NFL. Following the statement Kraft refused to answer any questions.
“I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that’s gone on the last four months,” Kraft said. “I’m going to accept it, reluctantly, what he’s [Commissioner Roger Goodell] given us.”
The decision will not affect Tom Brady’s decision to appeal his four-game suspension.
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