New England Patriots owner defends Brady, Belichick

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft defiantly defended his team, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady on Monday as they opened Super Bowl week amid the football deflating controversy.
Kraft said that if the NFL's investigation into the affair clears the Patriots of wrongdoing, the league will owe the team, and in particular Brady and Belichick, an apology.
"I'm disappointed with the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon," Kraft said. "We expect hard facts as opposed to circumstantial, leaked evidence to drive the conclusions of this investigation."
Kraft said he composed his unexpected statement on the flight from Massachusetts to Phoenix, where the Patriots will take on reigning NFL champions Seattle in Super Bowl 49 on Sunday.
As the team traveled, Fox Sports reported that the NFL had obtained surveillance video of a Patriots locker room attendant, who took the Patriots' footballs from the officials' locker room to another room before bringing them onto the field for the AFC Championship game, in which the Patriots routed Indianapolis 45-7 to book their Super Bowl berth.
Belichick and Brady have insisted they have no idea how footballs used by the team in the first half of the game came to be under-inflated after meeting league inflation requirements in a pre-game inspection.
Less inflated balls in cold and wet conditions such as those during the game with the Colts could make the "pigskin" easier to grip, throw and catch.
- Person of interest -
According to the Fox Sports report, citing an unnamed league source, the league was trying to determine if there was wrongdoing by the locker room attendant, who is considered a "person of interest."
But Ted Wells, the lawyer hired to lead the probe along with NFL executive vice president Jeff Pash, on Monday warned against jumping to conclusions during an investigation he expects to take several more weeks.
"We are following customary investigative procedures and no one should draw any conclusions about the sequence of interviews or any other steps, all of which are part of the process of doing a thorough and fair investigation," Wells said in a statement.
Wells added that in the meantime "it would be best if everyone involved or potentially involved in this matter avoids public comment concerning the matter until the investigation is concluded."
That was just the tack that Belichick and Brady took, after both fielded questions about the matter back in Foxborough last week.
"I've spent quite a bit of time and had two lengthy press conferences about that," Belichick said. "My attention has turned now to the Seattle Seahawks and our game Sunday. And that's where it's going to stay this week."
Twice more Belichick was asked about the affair dubbed "Deflategate" and both times he politely declined to discuss it.
Brady said he had moved past his initial feelings of hurt at the suggestion he cheated.
Now, the three-time Super Bowl winner, who will become the first quarterback to start six Super Bowls, said he hopes the team can focus on "important things" and "eliminate the distractions."
The questions aren't likely to stop in the media frenzy that is Super Bowl week, but Belichick and Brady demonstrated how they plan to handle them.
- Nothing inappropriate -
Kraft made it clear he expects his club to be exonerated.
"I believe unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate in this process or were in violation of NFL rules," Kraft said.
"Tom, Bill and I have been together for 15 years," Kraft added. "And Bill, Tom and I have had many difficult discussions over the years, and I have never known them to lie to me.
"It bothers me greatly that their reputations and integrity and by association that of the team has been called into question."