Thursday 30 July 2015 08:54, UK
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft admits he wrong to put his faith in the NFL after Roger Goodell upheld Tom Brady's "unfathomable" four-game suspension.
In an explosive press conference at Gillette Stadium, Kraft admitted he now regrets his decision in May to accept the team’s punishment for the 'Deflategate' scandal and apologised to Patriots fans for doing so.
New England was fined $1m and lost their first-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft and their fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
Kraft said: "I've come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just.
"Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I chose to not take legal action. I chose to focus on football.
"Given the facts, evidence and laws of science... it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players.
"I had hoped that Tom Brady's appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation. Now the league has taken the matter to court. A tactic only a lawyer would recommend."
Kraft admitted he thought by accepting the discipline he was paving the way for NFL to soften their stance on Brady.
He said: "Six months removed from the AFC Championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs. I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady.
"I, first and foremost, need to apologize to our fans because I truly believe what I did in May - given the actual evidence of the situation, and the league's history on discipline matters - would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady.
"Unfortunately I was wrong."
A big cause of controversy in the 'Deflategate' scandal was a report by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen the week the story broke which, citing a source within the league office, stated 11 of the 12 game balls "were inflated significantly below the NFL's requirements."
He added that the "footballs were inflated two pounds per square inch below what is required by NFL regulations".
The Wells report subsequently proved Mortensen's report to be inaccurate but it went uncorrected by the league for months and Kraft is at a loss to understand why.
"The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting," Kraft said.
"I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the psi level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC Championship game was never corrected by those who had the correct information.
"For four months, that report cast dispersions and shaped public opinion."
