It's a term you'd never think to use when describing the New England Patriots – from owner Robert Kraft right down to star quarterback Tom Brady:

Naïve.

Yet there was Kraft on Wednesday morning at a stunning and unscheduled news conference all but admitting he was just that as he apologized to fans for backing off the fight against the NFL over deflate-gate.

[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]

He was acknowledging the obvious: the Patriots lost this case – lost two draft picks, a million bucks, four games of Tom Brady's service and incalculable reputation for all involved. And they lost it as much out of poor strategy as evidence.

"I have come to the conclusion this was never about what was fair and just," Kraft said. "I was wrong to put my faith in the league."

View photos Robert Kraft prepares to speak at a press conference at Gillette Stadium. (Getty Images) More

Welcome to the party. Kraft finally concluded what many others did if not immediately, then months and months ago.

This is where the story leaves the easy narratives that each side wants the public to follow: the NFL pointing at obstruction, the Patriots pointing to science and weak evidence. Both have their strong points.

But unless you want to be a lemming, you have to step back from the black and white and see the spectacular chess match that unfolded here. This is real life in the gray area.

First off, to suggest there is no evidence against the Pats is wrong. There is some and some of it is extremely suspicious. It's also inaccurate to argue that the NFL didn't engage in extremely aggressive media tactics that resulted in prejudicial stories against New England that shaped everything.

This case isn't and never will be cut and dried. It's one reason why, thus far, the "winner" has been determined by who had their preferred storyline control the discussion.

On that point, it's been a complete knockout by commissioner Roger Goodell. The league has dominated this, just crushed New England in a public relations battle the team apparently wasn't even wise enough to realize it was in.

The Patriots have been mostly flat-footed – failing to go on the offensive other than Bill Belichick's passionate scientific rant the week before the Super Bowl. It was New England's best moment, and it's not surprising that Belichick may have been the only one in Foxborough who fully understood how this was going down.

[Slideshow: Kraft holds surprising press conference]

Kraft instead trusted the league office and his one-time buddy Goodell, trusting investigator Ted Wells' report and then accepting the penalties because he believed the NFL would quid pro quo a reduction in Brady's sanctions.

Meanwhile, Brady foolishly decided it would be a good idea to destroy his cell phone right as he was about to meet with the Wells' investigative team even though he never was going to have to hand over the actual phone. Whether there was anything incriminating or not on Brady's phone, destroying it gave Goodell the exact kind of juicy item that he could use as a reason to uphold the four-game suspension, crush the quarterback's reputation and win over the public at large.

It was incredibly dumb of Brady. Yes, the quarterback had the legal right and the right as a union member to do what he wished with his phone. That's all well and good if this was going to be an emotionless and even-handed investigation based on legal precedent and theories.

Story continues