Kraft said, “So in that spirit I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that’s gone on for the last four months.”
In my mind, the key word here is “rhetoric”. Kraft wants us to stop talking about the Patriots being cheaters, and if he can get people to stop talking about their cheating just a little sooner, he’ll accept the NFL’s punishment.
However, his acquiescing won’t get that asterisk to disappear. This is the second asterisk the Patriots have next to their name, and neither one will disappear any time soon.
A few teams have been penalized for infractions...put in perspective, none of those actions call into question competitive outcomes.