Mr. Kraft 'Steadfastly Denies' ESPN's Report He Badmouthed Belichick to Arthur Blank So the Falcons Wouldn't Hire Him

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This wouldn't be the first time the world woke up to a long, detailed, anonymously-sourced ESPN article alleging turmoil and chaos inside the Patriots organization. In fact, it was authored by Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler, who I assume work in an office in Bristol that has "Patriots Hatchet Piece Department" on the glass door. 

Just seeing those names under the headline was a dead giveaway about what was to come. And they did not disappoint. In an article exploring the question every sane person has been asking themselves since January, "Why is Bill Belichick unemployed when so many inferior coaches still have jobs?" they put the blame on Mr. Kraft, while hurling some seriously incendiary charges:

Source - The second-winningest head coach in NFL history had interviewed twice with the Falcons -- a one-on-one session with owner Arthur Blank on his superyacht, followed by a lengthy interview with Blank and team executives at Blank's home after Belichick flew to Atlanta on one of the owner's private jets.

From Belichick's perspective, according to sources close to him, he had done everything right.

He assured Blank that he wasn't seeking the total control he had for most of his 24 seasons in New England. He pledged to work with the team's existing group of decision-makers, including general manager Terry Fontenot. Belichick also knew that Blank had checked his references with a group that included Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, Jonathan. …

And then, like many fans, Belichick was blindsided by news that Atlanta had hired [Raheem] Morris …

Blank always spoke respectfully about the coach with nearly a half-century of experience. "A living legend," Blank called him.

What Blank didn't say is that he and his top lieutenants had voted on the team's next head coach, ranking each candidate.

Bill Belichick didn't even finish in anyone's top three.

OK. So far this is all pretty self-explanatory. Blank and his staff didn't hire Belichick because they're incompetent, bumbling idiots who have never won anything and won't win anything until the heat death of the universe. Yet they're more interested in protecting their phony baloney jobs than doing what would've been right for the franchise and its fans. Continuing on …

In a lengthy interview with Blank, Belichick showed no rust, sources said. Blank told colleagues that he was very impressed. "I think Blank came away from the boat thinking this is my guy," a source close to Belichick said, though from his vantage point, any momentum following that meeting seemed to die over the next week. A second meeting was planned with team CEO Rich McKay and other Falcons executives.

Despite that friendly first session, the unthinkable happened for a billionaire and a legendary coach: Blank and Belichick checked each other's references. Blank spoke by phone, at least twice, to Robert Kraft. Among the NFL owners, Blank considers Kraft his closest friend. Publicly, Kraft and Blank have said Kraft expressed only support and offered praise of his former coach.

But in a conversation with Blank, Kraft delivered a stark assessment of Belichick's character, according to a source who spoke to two people: a close Kraft friend and a longtime Belichick confidant. The source quoted the Belichick source as saying, "Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill." That account was backed up, the source said, by the close Kraft friend.

Multiple sources said that Kraft spoke with "some candor" to Blank about Belichick, though the sources declined to elaborate. One source close to Belichick said Kraft "was a big part" of why the Falcons passed on hiring him.

The sources said Kraft made clear to Blank that "you'll never have a warm conversation with" Belichick, echoing what Bill Parcells told Kraft in 1996 when he wanted to bust the budget and hire Belichick. "Blank likes coaches who feel part of a family," a Falcons source said, "and it wasn't going to be that way with Bill." …

A second source close to Kraft said, "[Kraft] found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant."

The same source said he did not know if Kraft had warned Blank about Belichick's trustworthiness, but he said both Krafts felt "betrayed" by the coach. "I don't think they'd try to hurt Belichick," he said. "But I don't think they'd try to help him either. They weren't going to try to sink him. He was finished as an effective head coach. Just look at his last four years in New England. A disaster … If you're Arthur Blank, why do you want the headaches?"

You'll never have a warm conversation with Bill Belichick? He'd never be the kind of guy who feels part of Arthur Blank's family? Extremely difficult, obstanate, stubborn and arrogant? 

Spot lies here. These aren't scurrilous accusations. This isn't slander. These are some of Belichick's defining character traits. Along with brilliance, competence, discipline, adaptability, confidence, accountability, tirelessness, fearlessness, ruthlessness, tough-mindedness, a relentless work ethic, attention to detail. Plus, I'll add, a sense of humor. Put them all together and you get someone who's been more successful over a longer period of time than any of his contemporaries. In an era where the rules are specifically designed to keep you from being successful over a long period of time.

Now here comes the key part of this whole exercise in assassinating two characters:

"Robert steadfastly denies saying anything negative to Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick after Robert and Bill mutually agreed to part ways," Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. "In fact, Robert advocated for Bill to get the job. …

"It would not surprise me to learn that owners sometimes lament to those close to them when their teams are struggling," James said, "but Robert Kraft never questioned Bill's character or trust when talking with Arthur Blank. Trust is important to Robert. He wouldn't have employed Coach Belichick for the past 24 years if he ever questioned his trust."

That's how I'm reading this entire episode. Mr. Kraft and Blank are work friends. RKK did what work friends do every day in ever field of endeavor. He bitched about a coworker he was frustrated with. Blank, being an imbecile with terrible judgment, decides that having Belichick work for him isn't worth that kind of frustration. Which is exactly the kind of wrongheadedness that has gotten his team nowhere but one conference championship followed by the most humiliating defeat of all time. So he goes with the safe, easy pick of Morris. What follows is an adult version of The Telephone Game where Young Thundercat's garden variety  venting about working with a guy who's demanding and hard to deal with grows into him tanking Belichick's candidacy in Atlanta and costing him a job. Then ESPN dumps a can of gas on the embers and turns it into an inferno we'll be hearing about all offseason. 

And an even bigger point that should be lost on anyone is that as we speak, BELICHICK IS STILL ON THE PATRIOTS PAYROLL. He's still getting checks. Nobody knows exactly how much, but 25 million KraftBucks is a pretty fair guesstimate. Are we really to believe that Pats ownership is so invested in undermining their former coach's career prospects that they'd rather be $25 million poorer just to do it? Not in this world.

What shouldn't be lost in any of this is the indisputable fact that Belichick is, in fact, a giant pain in the ass to work with. And he has every right to be. Because that style has worked for him, and because he's earned it. Super successful people get to be high maintenance because the results balance it out. A comedy mentor of mine once described it as a pie chart, where each wedge is the same size. Sure, you have to be funny. But you also have to be on time. Be good to work with. Do the time you're told to do, etc. Nobody was a bigger handful to deal with than David Ortiz. When he wasn't bitching about his next contract or ranting at the umpires, he was storming into Terry Francona's postgame press conference to complain about getting an RBI taken away by the official scorer. And he absolutely earned every right to by what he did on and off the field. Driving in millions of runs. Being the clutchest hitter the world has ever seen. Being a team leader. Being great to kids. Working for the Jimmy Fund. And above all else, winning championships, which pretty much gives you carte blanche to be as high maintenance as you want. 

Nobody knows that more than the man who had the wisdom and foresight to hire Belichick 24 years ago when every media pundit in New England said he was nuts to do so. If Blank was as smart as him, he'd have listened when his work pal told him to make Bill HC of the ATLs, instead of being scared off by a little "candor." It's why the Falcons will always be the Falcons. 

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