Pats' owner angry, defiant over deflategate allegations

CHANDLER, Ariz. - Seattle corner Richard Sherman said Sunday that he thinks Patriots owner Robert Kraft is too chummy with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for New England to be substantially punished for wrongdoing in the Deflategate scandal.

Last night, that close relationship seemed to have acquired some distance. Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Patriots' Super Bowl headquarters hotel, Kraft clearly was furious, with the media but also with leaks from the league's Ted Wells-led investigation into the mysterious drop of 2-PSI drop in air pressure in 11 of 12 tested Patriots footballs during the AFC Championship Game rout of Indianapolis.

The first member of the Patriots organization to speak publicly after the team's arrival in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX was the owner, the man an anonymous NFL official referred to as "the assistant commissioner" this week in a GQ story about the league's travails. Last night, Kraft sounded like he might be ready to organize a coup, or at least a secession movement, as he angrily defended the integrity of his coach, his quarterback and his organization.

The Pats wanted this week to be about their legacy, as they appear in their sixth Super Bowl in the past 14 seasons. But regardless of what the Wells investigation shows, that legacy will always be tainted in many fans' minds because of questions raised by the Spygate and Deflategate scandals, the impression left of New England coach Bill Belichick's methods.

"If the Wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular coach Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week," Kraft said. "I'm disappointed in the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon. We expect hard facts, as opposed to circumstantial leaked evidence, to drive the conclusion of this investigation."

By storming through a four-minute statement on the controversy in which he did everything but pound his shoe on the lectern, ala Nikita Khruschev, Kraft gave handy cover to Belichick, who then blithely refused to answer any Deflategate questions when he took the dais.

Kraft did not take questions. Belichick then repeatedly asserted that he had "addressed everything" having to do with the controversy during two press conferences, the most recent on Saturday, when Belichick contended the Pats had conducted an experiment that showed footballs' air pressure could drop up to 1.5 PSI when inflated indoors, then left outdoors for a few hours.

But of course, Belichick hadn't addressed widespread scientific questioning of the Pats' conclusions, including Neil deGrasse Tyson's tweeted assertion that for a 15 percent inflation change to occur, the balls would have to be "inflated with 125-degree air."

And he certainly hadn't addressed the report by Fox Sports' Jay Glazer that hit while the Pats were en route from Boston to Phoenix - that the NFL investigation is focusing on a New England locker-room attendant who was seen removing balls from the officials' locker room. Glazer also said there might be video of the ball removal.

Asked if he had ordered a locker room attendant to tamper with footballs, Belichick said: "I appreciate the questions, but I've covered everything that I can cover in the previous week, and my attention is focused on the Seattle Seahawks. Our job is to get ready to play this game Sunday, and that's where it's going to be from here on out."

When someone asked when he was made aware of the Glazer report, Belichick repeated: "Right now, the only thing I'm focused on is the Seattle Seahawks."

Kraft's defiant message matched the tone of the rally the the Patriots attended yesterday before they left Boston, in which local radio host and former New England tight end Jermaine Wiggins reportedly told the crowd, "They hate us, 'cause they ain't us."

Brady acknowledged yesterday morning in a radio interview that he took the Deflategate criticisms personally, that "my feelings got hurt" before he "moved past it because it's not serving me."

Last night, Brady followed Belichick at the lectern. Asked about those remarks, Brady said: "I have moved forward and I have moved past those initial feelings. It's all part of the process . . . the team expects it of me. I think we've dealt with a lot of adversity this season, and we've got to deal with some more."

Belichick's attitude was hard to gauge - he looked and sounded like he always looks and sounds, at least during the rare occasions when he sheds his hoodie for a suit. Brady, wearing a preppy-looking, white pullover sweater, seemed a little subdued but not nearly as angry as Kraft was on Brady's behalf.

"I want to make it clear that I believe unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate in this process, or in violation of NFL rules," Kraft said. "Tom, Bill and I have been together for 15 years. They are my guys. They are part of my family. And Bill, Tom and I have had many difficult discussions over the years. And I have never known them to lie to me.

"That is why I am confident in saying what I just said, and it bothers me greatly that their reputations and integrity, and by association, that of our team, has been called into question this past week."

Kraft said he is confident the investigation will "uncover whatever the facts were of what took place," and "the science of how game balls react to changes in the environment."

Kraft said "this" - presumably, the Wells report, which Wells said yesterday might be several weeks away - "would be in direct contrast to the public discourse, which has been driven by media leaks, as opposed to actual data and facts."

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian