NFL: Patriots owner Robert Kraft stands defiant

The New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft was immediately on the defensive over the deflated balls saga as his team arrived in Phoenix ahead of Super Bowl XLIX.

The Patriots were bombarded with questions about an NFL investigation into their use of under-inflated footballs during the victory over Indianapolis that clinched a Super Bowl berth.

For over a week the Patriots have been quizzed about how 11 of 12 footballs used in the AFC Championship game did not meet NFL standards.

Kraft continued to lead the fightback, saying: "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.

"Tom (Brady), Bill (Belichick) and I have been together for 15 years, they are my guys, they are part of my family...and I have never known them to lie to me. It bothers me greatly that their reputations and integrity and by association that of our team has been called into question this past week.

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"I am disappointed in how 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."

"If the investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organisation tampered with the air pressure in the footballs I would expect and hope that the league would apologise to our entire team - and in particular coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady - for what they have had to endure this past week.”

While Kraft met the controversy head on, Belichick had a different game plan, simply refusing to answer any questions on the subject.

Belichick, who was fined the league maximum of $500,000 in 2007 for videotaping an opponent's defensive signals, followed Kraft to the podium and said his only focus was on Sunday's Super Bowl foes Seattle.

"My attention is totally turned now and focused on the Seattle Seahawks and our game Sunday and that is where it is going to stay for this week," he said. "This week it is all about Seattle."

Quarterback Tom Brady added: "It'll be a fun week. I'm excited for the challenge. It's a big challenge for us. Hopefully we can focus on all the important things and eliminate as many distractions as possible and go out there and play a great game."

Super Bowl XLIX is live on Sunday at 10pm on Sky Sports 1 HD & Sky Sports 3 HD.