New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft insisted Monday evening that his team has done nothing “inappropriate” and should get an apology from the NFL if the “Deflate-gate” probe finds no wrongdoing.
At a press conference in Arizona, where the Pats will play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Kraft said he welcomes the league’s investigation into under-inflated footballs used in the first half of the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colt.
At the same time, Kraft said it “bothers me greatly” that the controversy has called into question the integrity of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
“If the Wells investigation is not able to definitely determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular, Coach Belichick and Tom Brady, for what they have had to endure this past week,” Kraft said Monday night.
Both Belichick and Brady have denied they knowingly broke any league rules. On Monday, Brady said the team can cope with the distraction over the balls as they gear up for the big game. “We dealt with a lot of adversity this season and we’ll have to deal with some more,” he said.
This article originally appeared at NBCNews.com
Olivia Santini