Kraft Hopes for Goodell Draft News

Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, said on Monday that he personally asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to reinstate the draft picks the Patriots lost as part of their punishment for the Deflategate scandal.

Kraft said he wrote to the league over a month ago in response to Goodell’s claim that he would reconsider the punishment if any new facts were learned. The Patriots were stripped of a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 fourth-round pick and were fined $1m after the league found Patriots employees had tampered with footballs during the 2015 AFC Championship game against the Colts.

“I personally believe that when the league made their decision, they did not factor in the ideal gas law. They admitted that publicly. They had a full year of being able to observe Tom Brady play with all the rules of whatever the NFL was, and make any judgments there,” Kraft told reporters in Boca Raton. “We have laid it out pretty straightforward. And now it’s up for them to decide.”

Kraft did not say whether he had received a response from the league.

Brady was originally suspended for four games, but that ruling was overturned last year and Brady played the entire season. The league is currently seeking to restore the ban.

Asked whether he holds out any hope of getting back the pick in April’s draft, Kraft said: “I pray and desire.”

“It’s very hard to compete without the lifeblood of the draft,” Kraft said. “And so we understand the importance and I assure we’ve done everything we can do that has a chance of success.”

But Kraft did praise Goodell for his work as NFL commissioner. “Putting personal situations aside, I think he has done a very good job,” Kraft said. “He’s worked hard. The health of the league has not been better. We have our issue that we don’t think has been handled well, but it is what it is.”

In the 13-minute session with reporters, Kraft was also asked if he was disappointed that the NFL didn’t share PSI readings from 2015 as part of the league’s new football testing procedures.

“They did their own testing, they have results, and for whatever reason, they haven’t shared them with any of us. We actually requested at the beginning of the season that they test every game throughout the league and do that, but they chose to do it their way,” he responded.

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Number 18 Ends 18 Year Career - Peyton Manning

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Peyton Manning has announced his retirement, ending a sparkling 18-year career in the NFL.

Manning struggled to hold back tears as he confirmed the news at a media conference in Denver on Monday.

He said: "I fought a good fight. I finished my football race. After 18 years it is time."

Manning, who turns 40 on 24 March, played his last game when he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in February.

It was his second Super Bowl win, the first coming in 2007 during a 14-year spell with the Indianapolis Colts.

One of the game's most prolific passers, he was voted the NFL's most valuable player a record five times.

Manning retires as the NFL's all-time leader in passing touchdowns (539), passing yards (71,940) and quarterback wins (186, tied with Brett Favre).

His teams made the play-offs in 15 of his 18 seasons.

"You don't have to wonder if I will miss it. Absolutely I will," Manning added.

"There are players who were more talented - but none could out prepare me. I have no regrets."

Manning's Denver Broncos defeated Tom Brady's New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game to reach this year's Super Bowl

One of his biggest rivals, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said Manning "set the standard for how to play the quarterback position".

He told Sports Illustrated: "What just happened, winning the Super Bowl in his last game, is a perfect way to end a career. But what he's accomplished through all these years, what makes it so admirable, is the pressure he's had on him his whole life.

"Who has lived up to the expectations year after year after year as well as Peyton? He's done it so gracefully, so admirably."

Recently, Manning has also faced controversy. Before this year's Super Bowl, the NFL began an investigation into allegations that banned substance human growth hormone was sent to his house when he was recovering from neck surgery in 2011.

He has described the allegations, made by broadcaster Al Jazeera, as "complete garbage".

During his retirement news conference, he also denied allegations of sexual misconduct stemming from his college playing days at Tennessee.

"I did not do what has been alleged and I am not interested in re-litigating something that happened when I was 19," he said.

In defeating the Carolina Panthers on 7 February, Manning became the oldest quarterback to win the showpiece event - and the first starting quarterback to win it with two different teams.

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Brady to Extend New England Deal

Tom Brady will sign a contract extension with the New England Patriots that will see the quarterback play well into his 40s, according to reports.

ESPN reports that Brady will tack two years on to his current deal, extending his career until 2019. Brady is due to earn $9m in 2016 and $10m in 2017, with a salary cap charge of $15m this year. However, the extension is likely to lower the latter figure which could help free up room to negotiate new contracts for players such as Chandler Jones and Malcolm Butler, whose deals are up at the end of next season.

While Brady’s great rival Peyton Manning is likely to announce his retirement in the near future, the Patriots quarterback, who turns 39 in August, has spoken of his desire to extend his career for as long as possible. “I’d like to play a long time,” Brady said in October 2015. “There’s a lot that goes into playing well. I’ve played with a lot of great team-mates. But I want to play for a long time, maybe 10 more years. I think that’s probably what my goal is.”

Brady, unlike Manning, has shown little sign of decline as he approaches 40. He threw for 36 touchdowns last season – his highest tally in the regular season since 2011. His seven interceptions were also his lowest total since 2010.

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Patriots Jerod Mayo Retires

New England Patriots’ NFL defensive rookie of the year in 2008, Jerod Mayo, has announced his retirement from football at the age of 29.

The linebacker confirmed the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “After a lot of thought [my wife] Chantel and I take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for what we consider a life changing event … that of becoming a New England Patriot for the past 8 years,” Mayo wrote.

“We are extremely grateful to ‘Thundercat’ [Patriots owner Robert Kraft], [Patriots president] Jonathan [Kraft], the Kraft family, Coach Belichick, the Pats organization, and the most amazing fans in contributing to these pages of our lives. As my family and I prepare for the future be sure that the Pats memories will always hold a special place in our hearts. #51 JMayo.”

While Mayo’s retirement comes while he is still in his prime, his decision is not necessarily a continuation of a trend exemplified by 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, who quit the NFL last year at the age of 24 due to fears over head trauma. Mayo had struggled with knee, shoulder and pectoral injuries over the last three seasons – although he played every game in the most recent campaign – and was unlikely to be kept on by the Patriots this year with his $11.4m cap number the second highest on the team behind Tom Brady.

Mayo’s future could lie in coaching. According to the Patriots official website, fellow New England linebacker Dont’a Hightower said Mayo’s intelligence means he “could be a defensive coordinator” straight away if he so desired.

As well as winning defensive rookie of the year in 2008, Mayo was picked for the Pro Bowl twice, in 2010 and 2012. Mayo was also named a team captain by his team-mates in 2009, and 2015 and Julian Edelman and Chandler Jones paid tribute to him on Tuesday on Twitter.

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Broncos Smith Starts Brady Sledging

Although the AFC title game showdown between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos is still days away, but the first verbal jabs between the conference’s two best teams have already been exchanged.

Broncos defensive lineman Antonio Smith drew first blood on Monday at the club’s Dove Valley training facility, answering in the affirmative when asked if Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was a crybaby.

“That would be an accurate statement,” Smith told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “I’ve never seen any quarterback look to the referee right after he gets sacked more than Brady. Every time he gets sacked he looks at the ref like, ‘You see him sack me? Was that supposed to happen? He did it a little hard. Please throw a 15-yard penalty on him. Get him fined.’”

Smith’s remarks drew the attention of New York City’s tabloids, with both the Post and Daily News having a go at the New England quarterback on their Wednesday back pages.

Denver’s Chris Harris Jr doubled down in a Tuesday interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter when asked about the best way to defend Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“You gotta hit him low, man,” the fifth-year cornerback said. “Hit him in his knees. That’s the best chance you got of hitting him.”

Gronkowski’s risqué riposte has since been retweeted more than 48,000 times.

The 6ft 6in, 265lb Pro Bowler tore his ACL and MCL in 2013 when he was directly hit in the knee by current Denver safety TJ Ward, then with the Cleveland Browns.

He was tackled low several times by Denver defenders when the teams met earlier this year, a 30-24 win by the Broncos that saw Gronkowski carted off with a knee injury.

Sunday’s AFC championship game will be the 17th all-time meeting between Brady and Denver quarterback Peyton Manning with Brady’s teams holding an 11-5 edge.

The winner will advance to Super Bowl 50, scheduled for 7 February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

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NFL - Brady and Goodell Final Meet

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady arrived early to court on Monday for a final face-to-face meeting before a judge rules on the Deflategate case.

The judge had ordered both to show up for the conference before he rules whether Brady must serve a four-game suspension imposed by the league for his role in a conspiracy to use under inflated footballs during a playoff game last season.

The NFL wants confirmation it handled the case appropriately while the NFLPlayers Association wants the suspension nullified. 

US District Judge Richard Berman has said he hopes to rule by Friday, giving Brady enough time to prepare in case he can start in his team’s season opener against Pittsburgh on 10 September.

Goodell and Brady arrived separately about an hour and a half before they were scheduled to appear before the judge.

Goodell upheld the suspension in July, finding that Brady conspired with two team ball handlers to deflate footballs before the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7 in the AFC championship game in January. New England then won the Super Bowl.

Berman has continued to push for a settlement in the dispute, saying it would be “rational and logical,” but he also cited weaknesses in the way the NFL handled the controversy. The judge has also suggested that the league’s finding that Brady was generally aware that game balls were being deflated was too vague.

At a court hearing this month, Berman told the NFL there was precedent for judges to toss out penalties issued by arbitrators. 

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