When it comes to #DeflateGate, Patriots owner Robert Kraft isn’t holding a grudge. But he isn’t forgetting about it, either.
“I really don’t hold grudges,” Kraft tells Andrea Kremer in a Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel profile that premieres Tuesday night. “I mean, I remember everything, but I move on.”
Kraft and the Patriots have moved on from the scandal in the ultimate way, winning the Super Bowl to cap the year in which the four-game suspension was served -- and which started with a first-round pick being stripped from the Patriots. But it’s important to remember what happened, given that it wasn’t the first time the league office presided over an investigative and disciplinary process that seemed to be less about getting to the truth and more about reaching a predetermined outcome. As other situations arise involving other teams, it’s fair for the Patriots and those who believe that #DeflateGate wasn’t handled or resolved properly to pay keen attention to whether other teams truly caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar face the appropriate consequences.
That’s not to say other teams should get railroaded, prejudged, or otherwise shafted. But the punishment of the Patriots becomes even more glaring if/when other teams commit actual violations and get a pass.
For Robert Kraft, the commit to remember what happened flows in part from his belief that quarterback Tom Brady did nothing wrong.
“He’s just not the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL,” Kraft said. “He’s an amazing human being. And is genuine. And as nice as everybody thinks he is, he’s nicer. And to see anyone attack him as an individual or his integrity. And that just wasn’t fair.”
For more from Robert Kraft, check out HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. (You can DVR whatever is on NBC at that time.) For more from the person who interviewed him, the video attached to this post has Andrea Kremer’s Tuesday appearance from PFT Live.