Kraft, Patriots Do The Right Thing
Monday, July 01, 2013
Call Patriots owner Bob Kraft whatever you want. Just don’t call him cheap.
Bob Kraft
After a horrendous week of bad PR for his NFL franchise, Kraft put his money where his mouth was by doing the right thing on not one, but two separate occasions.
Unless you have been living under a rock with that bearded man from the GEICO commercial, you already know about the arrest of former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez on murder charges.
While Kraft and the Patriots have been criticized by some for employing a person of such questionable character, he and the franchise have done their best to get out in front of this disturbing story by trying to do the right thing.
Kraft’s first move was to release Hernandez from the organization shortly after his arrest but before the charges against him were announced.
Many suspected that the Patriots received information from the state police or prosecutors about what the charges were going to be against Hernandez which is why they released him. GoLocalProv.com has learned that this was not the case. Massachusetts authorities remained tight-lipped regarding the charges against Hernandez which were not revealed until his arraignment.
Kraft and other Patriots officials apparently convened prior to Hernandez’s arrest and determined that if he were charged with anything related to the murder of Odin Lloyd, even obstruction of justice, that he would be released from the team.
This is worth noting because Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice in a murder case and went on to play 13 more seasons in the NFL. Kraft apparently felt strongly enough that any player connected to a murder investigation was not worthy enough of a spot on his team’s 53-man roster regardless of the financial ramifications it may have on his franchise.
Had the Patriots decided to hang on to Hernandez while the legal proceedings played out, they may have been able to recoup as much as $37 million of the $40 million contract they signed him to last year. By releasing him, they have essentially forfeited their right to go after the more than $9 million in bonus money already paid to him.
Furthermore, the team will take a cap hit of $2.55 million in 2013 and a whopping $7.5 million in 2014.
Aaron Hernandez at his arraignment in court
But Kraft didn’t stop there. The team also announced a program intended to allow fans to exchange their Aaron Hernandez Patriots jerseys for a new Patriots jersey of equal of lesser value July 6th and 7th at the Patriots pro shop in Foxboro. You can see details of that program on the team's website right here.
While a receipt is not necessary, Kraft and the Patriots are asking that fans only return Hernandez jerseys that were purchased in the Patriots pro shop to begin with. And while no age restrictions were placed on the exchange policy, it is likely that the organization is making this generous offer to the parents of children who may have a Hernandez jersey who may not quite understand the magnitude of what is going on with the embattled TE at the moment.
This is no small gesture on the part of Kraft who is already losing out on tens of millions of dollars with Hernandez. Given the price of NFL jerseys and the expected turnout this weekend at the Patriots Pro Shop, this is expected to cost Kraft and the organization millions more.
So poke fun at the “Patriot Way” if you must, but give Kraft credit for one thing: when the you-know-what hits the fan, he certainly tries his best to do the right thing. And that is commendable.
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