Casey Sherman - 12: The Inside Story of Tom Bradys Fight for Redemption

For Kristin. You have my love for always.
And for my uncle Jim Sherman, one of the greatest sportsmen Ive ever known.

Casey Sherman

For Dad. Thank you for making me love football, the fall, and snow games.

Dave Wedge

May 19, 2015
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft strode to the podium dressed smartly in a blue suit, blue dress shirt with contrasting white collar, and a red tie. It was a look fans had become accustomed to. In fact, Kraft had worn the attire for his nearly two decades sitting in the owners box at Gillette Stadium and other modern-day coliseums while watching his team evolve into the greatest sports dynasty of the twenty-first century.

On May 19, 2015, Kraft had joined his fellow NFL owners at the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton for their spring meetings to discuss, among other things, the leagues potential return to Los Angeles for the first time in twenty-one years. The ownersnineteen billionaires, including Kraftsat through updates on competing stadium proposals, and while this topic was of interest to sports reporters in L.A., San Diego, and even St. Louis, the real focus of attention centered on the eroding relationship between Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League. Ever since the league had accused New England of deliberately deflating footballs during the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, the two men had been locked in a bitter battle over the future of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

When Kraft arrived in the city two days earlier, the normally affable owner politely stiff-armed Boston reporters who were seeking any new nugget of information about the feud. The next day, he went on the record with Sports Illustrated columnist Pete King, calling the leagues treatment of Brady unfounded and unfair. When asked whether hed sue the league in an effort to save his quarterbacks reputation, Kraft wouldnt confirm or deny taking such drastic action. The media prepared for a thermonuclear showdown between two of the most powerful men in the most popular sport in America.

But on the morning of May 19, ESPN reporter and respected league insider Adam Schefter turned the doomsday narrative on its head in a tweet that read, Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft already have met, spoke and even hugged, per an industry source who witnessed it. The headline was re-tweeted 738 times along with comments comparing their embrace to Michael Corleones kiss of death planted on the lips of his traitor brother Fredo in The Godfather Part II. Was this Krafts strategy? To keep his friends close but his enemies closer?

Moments later, Schefter added that the two perceived enemies had attended a sixtieth-birthday party for Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, in New York City that past weekend and that Kraft and Goodell were spotted on a couch, talking by themselves for quite a long time.

Schefters tweets immediately transformed the lobby of the Ritz into a land of confusion as veteran reporters scratched their heads and texted their editors about this potential thaw in the NFLs most recent cold war.

A few hours later, their suspicions were confirmed when Kraft walked out to face a media ravenous for information. The owner shifted his feet and stared down at his prepared comments. He began the news conference by acknowledging the emotionally charged statements made in recent weeks by both Patriots fans and those who openly called for the proud franchises painful demise. Kraft then complained about the ongoing rhetoric that continues to galvanize both camps. It appeared as if the NFL had been split up into blue and red states, with partisans on both sides holding their ground and their grudges.

I have two options, Kraft said about his war against the NFL. I can either end it or extend it.

The Patriots owner paused before describing the goose bumps he felt being welcomed into the room by other owners after purchasing the team. Kraft expressed his allegiance to his fellow owners and their ultra-exclusive club he called the full thirty-two.

So in that spirit, I dont want to continue the rhetoric thats gone on for the last four months, he told reporters. Im going to accept, reluctantly, what he [Goodell] has given us, and not to continue this dialogue and rhetoric, and we wont appeal.

Krafts star quarterback Tom Brady watched the news conference along with millions of others on television. He was devastated and angry. Brady grabbed his cell phone and punched in the contact number for DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football League Players Association.

What the fuck? Brady shouted over the phone. Why am I not getting the support I deserve on this thing?

Smith tried to console his client and friend.

No matter what Kraft says, it has no bearing on our appeal of the four-game suspension, he told Brady. Well be ready for that. Trust me.

In a moment, the man hailed as arguably the greatest quarterback ever to play the game had to put his faith in another team, one of battle-tested attorneys in a war against, perhaps, the most formidable opponent of his life: the NFL.