Patriots

“Kraft doesn’t want to be blamed. For anything. Ever.”

COMMENTARY

That’s it? Twenty-four years of wondering how it was going to end and we got prepared statements? J.J. Abrams has concocted better conclusions than what we got from the New England Patriots on Thursday. 

Head coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft have “amicably” decided that the “best thing for everybody” was to “cordially” part ways after a quarter-century that helped deliver six Super Bowl titles to Foxborough. It was a harmonious decision, Robert Kraft said, mentioning once or twice about how “collaborative” Bill was in the decision to fire himself. I half-expect them to start selling “mutual” emblazoned hoodies in the Patriots Pro Shop by tomorrow morning. 

The noontime briefing with the media was awkward, with reason. How do you say goodbye and thank you for all Belichick has done without really addressing the issue that he was fired? Does Robert really want us to believe that he and Bill sat around at Davio’s this week coming to an agreement that the best decision for the team was for Bill to surrender his job? And how do you ask Belichick about a future when it’s one he’s probably still securing for himself. (The feeling here is, San Diego. Yes, I know.) 

Kraft’s meeting with the media two hours later offered at least some insight into the decision to “move on” from Belichick, but the owner opened his own, separate press conference by noting that he would answer only questions about Bill and not the future, which will be addressed “in the very near future.” 

Which is all another way of saying, “I’ve lost my final line of defense.” Because now, if the Patriots remain on the path they’ve put themselves on the last four years, neither Tom Brady nor Bill Belichick are there to take the heat when things go wrong. 

That’s back on you, Robert. 

It’s no coincidence that Kraft is unearthing the old tale of how he used to sit in the metal bleachers at Foxborough Stadium as a fan back before he owned the team. He mentioned it twice on Thursday. The inference now, as it was 30 years ago, was that he was one of us, a Patriots fan who knew the frustrations of watching the franchise fall into melancholy.

But that’s also a sharp and preemptive strike at what’s to come. 

Kraft doesn’t want to be blamed. For anything. Ever. Which was a pretty good position to be in while you were bringing home a six-pack of trophies under the winning ways of the greatest quarterback and coach to ever play the game. Then, when things did go badly (Spygate, Deflategate, Donald Trump) Belichick was always there to take the blame. Of course, he wasn’t suspended for Spygate, Brady took the heat for deflating footballs, and let’s just keep him out of the stationery for this round of presidential campaigns, OK? 

Still, you let Brady walk out the door only to win a Super Bowl in Tampa and who’s to blame? Bill. 

The Patriots were 31st in cash spending last year and who puts the roster together? Bill. 

The Patriots’ franchise quarterback, a player very much rumored to have been the decision of the owner, famously bottoms out leaving the team with no viable solution at the position? It’s Bill. 

Robert is so insistent on a happy ending that you have to wonder if he understands what’s to follow. Able to hide behind the coach for so long, Kraft is going to have to, for the first time ever, try and fix a sinking ship. (Pete Carroll was 27-21 during his time here; that’s more of a paddleboat fixed with FlexSeal than anything.) When the pitchforks start emerging now, they’re no longer headed for the disgruntled head coach; they’re coming for the team owners, the stewards of the franchise as Robert put things Thursday. 

The Krafts have always been good owners. Robert should forever be celebrated for rescuing the franchise from moving to St. Louis. If you’re too young to remember and appreciate the swings of being a Patriot fan back then, Kraft was like the pied piper, having slayed the giant beast in James Orthwein to deliver the football team back to his fellow Sam Adams-swilling brethren. Kraft high-fived fans in the stands where he was celebrated as a man of the people, one who would go on to include Elton John, Meek Mill, and Jon Bon Jovi on the guest list for the next Super Bowl ring ceremony at the manse in Brookline. 

Things have changed a bit. But Kraft is all too eager to remind you how we got here in the first place. 

“Sitting in those metal benches in the old stadium where your tush got frozen to the seat in November, December and dreaming about an opportunity to maybe own this team and try to figure out how to do it,” Kraft said. “Having the privilege of doing it as it custodian of the Patriots and then never imagining that we would go to the Super Bowl 10 times… I promise you, our family will be dedicated to doing the best we can to bring a winning team back.” 

The clock is ticking on a job that should have begun years ago and there’s nobody left to blame for the shortcomings. Bill Belichick and the Patriots are no more. 

At least it was mutual. Warm fuzzies.