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Kraft Speaks Out For First Time On Delategate Sanctions, Is Disgusted With Situation
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft made his first public comments since the NFL handed down its Deflategate penalties, saying that he is convinced QB Tom Brady "played no part in any football-deflation scheme before the AFC Championship Game in January," according to Peter King of THE MMQB. Kraft was asked if Brady had told him he was innocent, and Kraft responded, "Yes. Because we had the discussion -- if you did it, let’s just deal with it and take our hit and move on. ... He’s always been honest with me, and I trust him. I believed what he told me. He has never lied to me, and I have found no hard or conclusive evidence to the contrary." King notes Kraft during the interview "sounded alternately defiant and angry." Kraft indicated that he "is convinced the league does not have a smoking gun that would prove anyone connected with the organization deflated a bag of footballs to make them more to Brady’s liking in the AFC title game." He also is "convinced the Wells Report distorted the science to fit a conclusion that doesn’t work." Kraft: "This whole thing has been very disturbing. I’m still thinking things out very carefully. But when you work for something your whole life. ... I just get really worked up. To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair. The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn’t fair. If we’re giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting. But in this report, every inference went against us … inferences from ambiguous, circumstantial evidence all went against us. That’s the thing that really bothers me. If they want to penalize us because there’s an aroma around this? That’s what this feels like. If you don’t have the so-called smoking gun, it really is frustrating. And they don’t have it. This thing never should have risen to this level" ( <a target="_blank" href="http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/18/robert-kraft-patriots-owner-nfl-deflategate/">MMQB.SI.com, 5/18</a> ).
