Patriots owner Robert Kraft behind NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s $300 million salary

[jmyrlefuller]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/robert-kraft-behind-roger-goodell-300m-salary-report-article-1.2092554

[float=right][/float]by Nathaniel Vinton and Teri Thompson
January 26, 2014

Roger Goodell has at least 300 hundred million reasons to go easy on Bob Kraft's team.

Kraft's role in inflating the NFL commissioner's huge salary is just one feature of their mutually beneficial friendship, according to a new article in GQ Magazine detailing Goodell's close relationship with the owner of the Patriots.

The article comes on the heels of Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman's comments Sunday questioning how the cozy relationship between Goodell and Kraft could affect any punishment the Patriots receive in the Deflategate scandal.

Goodell is being closely watched for his handling of the case of 11 under-inflated balls that were discovered during the first half of the AFC Championship game. The controversy comes even as Goodell faces further scrutiny on player conduct issues and the concussion cases that have roiled the league in recent years.

Kraft was instrumental in securing Goodell a gargantuan salary that amounts to a total of about $300 million over seven years.

The GQ article, by Gabriel Sherman, paints Goodell as a miserly boss, often accusing his underlings of being overpaid and explains the league's obsession with controlling its players, its revenues and its image, which has been massively challenged in the last year.

The article points out that Kraft is a member of the league's compensation committee, comprised of three NFL team owners, which infamously set Goodell's pay package at $44 million per year for seven years starting in 2012. (For comparison's sake, outgoing Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig made about half amount toward the end of his tenure).

(excerpt)

[jmyrlefuller]

Related:

http://www.gq.com/sports/201502/roger-goodell-season-from-hell

The Season from Hell: Inside Roger Goodell's Ruthless Football Machine

by Gabriel Sherman
February 1, 2015 (post-dated)

By one measure—money—Goodell has been the most successful commissioner in the history of the league. Since landing the gig eight years ago, he has made the NFL more powerful than ever. Total league revenues have grown about 65 percent; the value of franchises is at an all-time high. (Goodell has told the owners that he wants to increase revenues to $25 billion over the next dozen years.) Last year, he persuaded the owners to settle the concussion lawsuit with more than 5,000 former players for $675 million. "God knows what the owners thought they were liable for," a veteran league executive told me, suggesting that they were prepared for the possibility that they might have to pay more. "They look at it as a cost per team: So we're capped at what, $25 million each? That deal alone should solidify Goodell's legend." (The deal was so good, in fact, that the judge in the case later ruled that the cap was unfair to players and threw it out.)

"He's had a lot of challenges," says Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, "but I think he's done a good job with a very difficult situation."

Adversaries take a less charitable view. Eric Winston, an offensive tackle for the Bengals and president of the NFL Players Association, says the NFL is simply too popular to screw up, and that its recent success has come in spite of Goodell's leadership, not because of it: "You could be the worst bartender at spring break, but you'd still be killing it."

(excerpt—full article at link)