New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed disappointment Tuesday over how The Dynasty documentary on Apple TV+ portrayed the football franchise’s championship teams, according to a new report.
Kraft made the comments while talking with reporters at an annual NFL meeting.
New England Patriots owner ‘disappointed’ over The Dynasty documentary series
At the meeting, a reporter asked Kraft what he thought of The Dynasty, according to ESPN. The Dynasty is the 10-part Apple TV+ documentary directed by Matthew Hamachek that the streamer released in February.
The team — it played in nine Super Bowls and won six of them between 2001 and 2019 — cooperated with the documentary filmmakers, allowing access to internal video archives. Kraft, former head coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady, and other former players and coaches in the Patriots organization sat for long interviews, too. (Pro tip: Want to hear Tom Brady swear a lot? Watch the documentary.)
‘So much emphasis on … ‘challenging’ situations’
“I felt bad that there was so much emphasis on the more controversial, and let’s say ‘challenging,’ situations over the last 20 years,” Kraft said. He apparently referred to the series’ emphasis on blowups like “spy gate,” deflate-gate” and murder conviction of former tight end Aaron Hernandez prior to that player’s suicide in prison.
It seems Kraft would have preferred more emphasis on the positive.
“I wish they had focused more on our Super Bowl wins, our 21-game win streak. I felt bad there were players who gave hours and hours of interviews and they felt only the negativity [was used]. … So a little disappointed that there wasn’t more of a real positive approach — especially for Patriot fans who have lived the experience with us.”
Slant against Belichick?
Likewise, some Patriots players have criticized the series recently, too. “I felt like I got kind of duped,” said former defensive back Devin McCourty. He indicated he thought filmmakers slanted coverage against former head coach Bill Belichick. Another former defensive back and current NFL commentator, Rodney Harrison, also expressed reservations.
And on Tuesday reporters asked Kraft about it.
“Look, I’ll state this clearly: I feel so privileged that we had Bill here,” he said. “We hope when he’s finished [coaching], that we’re going to have a chance to honor him the way we will do with Tom Brady this year.”
“I look forward to the privilege of putting Bill into the Patriots Hall of Fame one day in the future,” he added.
Watch The Dynasty on Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers a variety of documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.