Patriots won't appeal 'Deflategate' penalties

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not appeal the $1-million US fine and loss of two draft choices the NFL penalized the team for its role in the use of deflated footballs in the AFC championship game.

Kraft said Tuesday at the owners meetings that he was putting the league before his franchise because "at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the 32."

The Patriots will lose a first-round draft pick next year and a fourth-rounder in 2017.

"When the discipline came out, I felt it was way over the top," Kraft said, adding that if he had made his decision last week, "I think maybe it might have been a different one."

But after further consideration, he cited "believing in the strength of the [NFL] partnership and the 32 teams" for dropping any appeal plans.

Kraft also recognized the powers given to Commissioner Roger Goodell.

"Although I might disagree in what is decided, I do have respect for the commissioner, and believe he is doing what he perceives to be in the best interest of the 32," Kraft added.

Star quarterback Tom Brady has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season by the NFL, and Kraft's decision not to appeal his team's punishment does not affect Brady's appeal, which already has been filed by the players' union.

Kraft would not take any questions Tuesday about his decision nor about Brady's appeal, which will be heard by Goodell. But he has said he's convinced Brady played no part in deflating the footballs.

Brady's appeal will be heard within the next week.

Kraft was livid when the Wells Report, which was commissioned by the NFL and took nearly four months to compile, contained what he termed "all circumstantial, no hard evidence." He said Tuesday that "the entire process has taken too long; it's four months after the AFC championship game, and we are still talking about air pressure ... in footballs."

This is the second time in Kraft's 21 years as owner that the Patriots have been disciplined for breaking NFL rules. In 2007, they were penalized for videotaping New York Jets signals during a game. They didn't challenge fines of $500,000 against coach Bill Belichick and $250,000 against the club, along with the loss of a first-round draft pick.

Union against Goodell hearing Brady appeal

The players' union has asked Goodell to recuse himself from the appeal hearing for Brady. 

A request from the NFL Players Association formally was made Tuesday, citing "a process that has contained procedural violations of our collective bargaining agreement."

"The commissioner's role as a central witness in the appeal hearing and his evident partiality with respect to the Wells report, the commissioner must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter," the union said.

The league said it will not comment on the union's request. The Patriots said they won't comment on the Brady case.

The CBA reached in 2011 to end the lockout gave Goodell the right to hear the appeal; only the commissioner can punish players for conduct detrimental to the league. But the NFLPA claims if he delegates his authority to discipline players, it's invalid, and if he handles it himself, he is no longer impartial.

The union also said "if the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review."