Robert Kraft video proves what we already know, he’s our kind of man.

Robert Kraft

Sixty percent of NFL TV viewers and 70-odd percent of the readers of football blogs are guys. Football is when we cut loose for our teams, against enemy teams and where we vicariously live the lives of our favorite players. And NFL owners.

I guarantee you most male NFL fans see nothing wrong with the audition tape New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft made with his hot, new eye-candy Ricki Noel Lander. That tape was the hot talk of sports radio Wednesday afternoon. 

The video went viral on You Tube before Fox made them take it down for copyright violations. If you hurry, you might catch it at Deadspin before FOX kills it there. Click the link here.

Kraft quickly issued an apology when the video became known. “I tried to help Ricki prepare an audition tape for an upcoming Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy by reading Wilson’s lines. I never intended that it would be made public and I regret that it has. I think we can all agree that Owen Wilson has nothing to worry about. I am going to stick to my day job.”

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are all you need to know to explain the insipid dialogue used in the video. I doubt Lander wins a speaking part on the strength of this video. But,  Kraft is one of the NFL’s three most recognizable owners since George Halas. NFL Properties can make hay from the pair as it did with Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Snyder.  

This Given Sunday is a football blog, not a gossip site. The question is whether Roger Goodell, official moralist of the NFL, take action against one of his bosses who is one of the most influential owners? Should he?

 

The man in me says admires Kraft for finding friendship with the kind of woman that usually holds out for quarterbacks. He says the video was to help a young person advance her career. Who could be against a kindhearted effort to advance the economy? Kraft says the video was not intended to go public. That is clear to anyone who sees it. The video does not capture the character of the man. It’s a script for a silly movie.

Myra Kraft, Robert’s wife, passed away July 2011. 

Goodell should have concern if the incident impaired the brand value of the NFL. That is precisely Kraft’s area of influence as chairman of the NFL Broadcast Committee. Goodell needs Kraft to say the brand is damaged. Don’t hold your breath on that one.

The commissioner has too many other threats on that front to be concerned with this one. The NFL considered Rex Ryan’s foot fetish video a personal matter. Ms. Lander did not even expose her feet. Now, if the video affects competition by disrupting Tim Tebow’s takeover of the New York Jets, Goodell would be forced to act.

Laugh, then let this go.

Point after

Either Bob Kraft, or FOX, or both have shown impressive ability to sweep away links to the audition video and still images taken from it. We removed our link to an image when it popped up this morning as a blank space. (We do not store those images on our servers.) This morning, we are going with a ‘safe” image of Mr. Kraft to go with this story. Obviously, the man does not want to be asked about it, or the new found twinkle in his eye.

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About Anthony Brown

Lifelong Redskins fan and blogger about football and life since 2004. Joined MVN's Hog Heaven blog in 2005 and then moved Redskins Hog Heaven to Bolguin Network. Believes that the course of a season is pre-ordained by management decisions made during the offseason. Can occasionally be found on the This Given Sunday blog and he does guest posts.

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