KRAFT WANTS A DO OVER
Pats owner’s heart full of gratitude yet he’ll happily make room for more
Robert Kraft still can’t help but flash back to Super Bowl LI. When he’s on the treadmill working out, the Patriots owner remembers everything that went down in Houston during his team’s improbable comeback from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.
He can’t help but smile at the memory.
But in true Patriots fashion, Kraft is on to 2017. It’s seven months later and time to raise the fifth championship banner in the Brookline native’s incredible tenure at the helm. Kraft is pumped about acknowledging the victory and turning the page as the Patriots prepare to host the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night in the opener and official kickoff to the 2017 NFL season.
“You know, I go back over the five Super Bowls,” Kraft told the Herald last week. “The first two, the last-minute kicks by Adam (Vinatieri). The third one, an interception with 17 seconds left by our man Rodney (Harrison), and Super Bowl XLIX, there’s never been a play like (Malcolm Butler’s) to end a (Super Bowl) game.
“Then Super Bowl LI, down by (25 points), a 99.6 percent chance to lose, with two minutes to go in the third quarter. We just had a storybook ending. The greatest comeback in the history of the Super Bowl. Don’t think there’s any game that can quite compare. Not that I’ve seen . ... The funny thing is, I have so many friends or fans who come up to me and say, ‘We never gave up hope.’ We’re really fortunate.”
In our sitdown with the 76-year-old patriarch last week, the list of topics ran the gamut, from his relationship with Roger Goodell and the NFL commissioner’s highly anticipated visit to Gillette Stadium for the opener, to his relationship with Bill Belichick, to the loss of Julian Edelman, to Rob Gronkowski being on the Tom Brady diet, and more.
What wasn’t discussed was his relationship with President Trump. For the record, that was taken off the table before the interview started.
Welcome, Commish
We will start with the other controversial figure in Kraft’s world, Goodell. The league commissioner, who is largely unpopular in these parts thanks to his heavy-handed dealings with Brady during the Deflategate scandal, had avoided coming to Gillette for more than a year until sneaking into Foxboro for the Patriots’ preseason opener against Jacksonville Aug. 10. He was in Kraft’s luxury box for a brief time, then posed for a picture with three fans before slipping out at halftime.
‘I want to give credit to Coach Belichick, the coaching staff, the whole organization. Because life is about how you handle adversity.’ — ROBERT KRAFT On his Patriots overcoming many setbacks last season
Illustrating the angst still prevalent throughout Patriots Nation, that photo sparked a couple of days of outrage among fans when it went public.
Until the photo surfaced, few saw Goodell before he left at halftime of that preseason game. Kraft can’t predict what the reception will be like Thursday night in Foxboro. But we can tell you Barstool Sports ordered 70,000 Goodell clown towels to distribute to fans for the season opener. It features the illustration of Goodell in clown face that Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia so famously wore on a Tshirt in returning from Super Bowl LI.
So this time might be a little different.
Asked about his relationship with Goodell, and whether he harbored any ill will toward the commissioner, Kraft, who was flipping his Super Bowl LI ring around like a fidget spinner while sitting at his desk, described his relationship with Goodell as being “professional.”
“I want to do what’s in the best interest of the team. And so therefore having a professional, good working relationship, doing what’s in the best interest of the league is in the best interest of the Patriots,” he said. “What happened is yesterday’s news. The good part of that is people from the league are coming to the opening game, celebrating our Super Bowl championship.”
Make no mistake. The whole Deflategate saga still doesn’t sit well with Kraft. But he takes great satisfaction in the fifth banner — the ultimate reward — that will be raised Thursday night with the commissioner in attendance.
“I want to give credit to Coach Belichick, the coaching staff, the whole organization. Because life is about how you handle adversity. And I truly believe we were treated unfairly. But this isn’t the only place in my life that’s happened,” Kraft said. “You move on and you try to come out stronger. With the good lord’s help, it was a good outcome. But I want to do what’s in the best interest of this team. That’ll always be what drives me first.”
When Goodell looks to that banner Thursday, he will see that there’s now room for as many as seven more banners in the display place enlarged by elevating of the Gillette Stadium sign. If need be, the Patriots could put up as many as 11 banners across the expanse.
“It was a huge construction process and commitment that creates some other opportunities,” Kraft said. “We’ll see opening night. It’s pretty cool.”
A bump in the road
Unfortunately, some of the excitement for the new season was dimmed with
the loss of Edelman to a season-ending ACL injury. Edelman was injured in Detroit in the third preseason game. Kraft said he feels those types of losses, too. It was like taking a punch to the gut seeing the ever-reliable and clutch Edelman go down.
“Oh, yeah. I gave him a big hug when I saw him Monday when we knew for sure (about the injury),” said Kraft, who noted the closeness between Brady and Edelman. Kraft pointed out that the two friends each blew out their knees at the same points in their careers — this being Edelman’s ninth year, the same point in which Brady tore his ACL.
As for the team surviving without Brady’s go-to guy and his best third-down weapon, Kraft doesn’t exactly sound like the pundits, some of whom have portrayed it as no big deal. The Patriots boss struck a more cautious tone.
“You never know, and knowing Tommy, I think he had a certain confidence in him,” Kraft said of Edelman. “We’ll see about his relationship with Brandin Cooks and how that develops. I think he developed a good relationship with (Chris) Hogan. I think he has a great relationship with (Danny) Amendola. We’ll see. We have some of these young guys. We have a great group of running backs, and O-line, and a lot of new players on defense, so until the real games begin, you really don’t know.” Then there’s Gronk. Kraft is well aware that his all-world tight end — coming off a November 2016 back injury that prematurely ended his season for a third time in seven years — has adopted Brady’s eating habits and is working with TB12’s body guru, Alex Guerrero, to become more flexible in the hopes of avoiding further injury and extending his career.
“I think he’s at a turning point in his career. He’s the best player at his position on the field. I’m not going to say of all-time. But there can’t be many that would rival him. But you’re only good if you’re on the field,” Kraft said. “I know how hard he’s worked downstairs (in the training room). The only thing I have to walk away from is when he wants to share his avocado ice cream with me.”
Gronkowski missed the last five games of the regular season, and the playoffs, including the Super Bowl, last year. It was the third surgery on his back alone — the first coming while still in college. He seems committed to the Brady method.
“Let’s see if it takes,” Kraft said of the TB12 program. “Having him — if he can play all season, all 16 games, and if we’re privileged to be in the playoffs — play that role, he’ll make a big difference, especially with the loss of Edelman.”
Kraft isn’t necessarily skeptical about Gronk, but practical. The big tight end might be more flexible and pliable on the new program, but that might not prevent foes from taking out his knees. In any event, Kraft is happy his star will be ready to go for the opener.
In Bill, he trusts
Speaking of the real games, Kraft also attempted to pump up the Chiefs, who were 12-4 last season, atop the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders. He doesn’t want the fans to take them lightly, even if Kansas City is coming to town on the Patriots’ prime-time, bannerraising night.
“Kansas City will be a big test. They’re a well-coached team, especially on offense,” Kraft said. “That’s where Andy (Reid, the Chiefs coach) spends most of his time. I know Bill has a great regard for Andy.”
As for the league as a whole, Kraft narrowed it down to “six or eight teams” being strong contenders, along with the Patriots.
“In the end, you need to have great players, great chemistry, and you need to have great coaching,” he said. “That’s the formula.”
He knows the Patriots have those three elements in spades.
As for his coach, Kraft does not want to speculate on the future of Belichick and how much longer he plans on coaching the team. Belichick turned 65 in April.
“We’ve been together 18 years. That’s longer than anyone else,” Kraft said. “Let’s hope he stays in good health and wants to continue coaching.”
Kraft has said in the past he knew privately how much longer Belichick wanted to coach, but won’t reveal those details.
“He and I have talked about it. But we don’t discuss it publicly,” Kraft said. “We’ve done OK the last 18 years not discussing it.”
As for his quarterback, and how he looks the same at 40 years old as he did some 10 years ago, Kraft doesn’t want to jinx it.
“In some ways he looks better,” Kraft said, knocking on his desk. “I won’t open my mouth to the devil.”
Kraft also declined to get into all the machinations about what to do with backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is in the final year of his contract.
“I think we want to go one year at a time. We have a pretty good record over 23 years. I think we have the best record in the NFL,” Kraft said. “In the end, this is a decision for Coach Belichick to make. He’s done pretty well making these decisions. So I’ll let him speak to that issue.”
The Patriots patriarch had one more message for all the prognosticators predicting a perfect record not too long ago for his team.
“They know as much as my good customer in China knows,” Kraft joked, alluding to a client of his family’s packaging business. “Look, no one knows,” Kraft added. “We appreciate the good will, but that’s a bunch of hogwash. I think the mantra ‘one game at a time’ has worked pretty well. That’s what we’re going with.”