New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft: ‘Envy and Jealousy’ at Heart of Deflategate Punishments

Describing recent events as “nonsense and foolishness,” New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft insisted that “envy and jealousy” were the reasons for the sanctions he and star quarterback Tom Brady experienced over the Deflategate scandal.

Kraft made his remarks in New York during a recent event sponsored by Bloomberg.

The billionaire owner of the five-time Super Bowl champions was blunt about the scandal that brought sanctions to his team.

“Well, I don’t hold grudges, but I also don’t forget anything,” Kraft said. “Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases. I’m going into my 24th season as an owner. I’m passionate about owning a football team in my hometown.”

“If I hadn’t won, I would be so angry at our folks and thinking about what we’d have to do (to win a title). So, our competitors, I understand how they brought pressure on the league office to be very strong and (lobbied) not to compromise on an issue that was nonsense and foolishness,” Kraft added.

Kraft praised his star quarterback as a model for millennials, saying that the team’s comeback against the Atlanta Falcons at Super Bowl LI was a “great lesson for the millennials on how hard work, perseverance and never giving up” can pay off.

The Patriots owner also spoke about his friendship with President Donald Trump. Kraft recounted how after his wife, Myra, passed away, the future president was there for him.

“He called me once a week for a year and invited me to things,” Kraft told the audience. “That was the darkest period of my life. I’m a pretty strong person. My kids thought I was going to die. There were five or six people who were great to me, and he was one of them. Loyalty and friendship trumps politics for me. I always remember the people who were good to me in that vulnerable time, and he’s in that category.”

Kraft also criticized the media for how it has treated the president.

“He doesn’t mean everything he says,” Kraft insisted. “I’m privileged to know that. People who don’t know him maybe don’t see the better side. I tell you one thing: He’s very hard-working.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.