A new GQ piece is taking a poignant look at the relationship between Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The once budding bromance is likely finished because of #Deflategate, and the NFL’s assertion that the Pats may have cheated.
Roger Goodell has had a lot to deal with this season, but a rift with the Patriots owner could have lasting consequences for the commissioner.
GQ highlights the relationship that started when Kraft supported Goodell’s candidacy over league attorney Gregg Levy to succeed Paul Tagliabue. Goodell has rushed to Kraft’s aid on every occasion since that time.
Kraft supported Goodell’s candidacy over league attorney Gregg Levy to succeed Paul Tagliabue. The following year, Goodell came under fire for his mysterious decision to destroy evidence in the league’s Spygate investigation. Kraft, in turn, has been a crucial ally throughout Goodell’s stormy eight years on the job. “I think Roger has done better than any of us could have wished for,” Kraft told ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. in 2013. As a member of the NFL’s compensation committee, Kraft is responsible for Goodell’s controversial $44 million pay package. Kraft also works alongside Goodell on the elite broadcast committee, negotiating the multi-billion dollar television deals that make the NFL a profit machine. In the wake of the Ray Rice episode, Kraft privately lobbied owners to come out in support of the embattled commissioner.
That relationship has caused many to make jokes about the commish, with one high ranking exec comparing Goodell to “a lacky.”
While reporting the piece, I heard many stories of Kraft receiving preferential treatment. One executive noted how Goodell seemed to jump to answer his cell whenever Kraft called. “Sure there’s special rules,” one league source said. “It’s the unwritten secret.” At a golf tournament last year, one source told me, Kraft is said to have called NFL headquarters and requested to be interviewed on the NFL Network. Within minutes, NFL producers in the broadcast truck were told to put Kraft on television. “Nobody else would have pulled that card,” the source said.