Patriots owner Robert Kraft has five Super Bowl trophies and he thinks that hasn’t gone unnoticed around the NFL.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Kraft said he thinks “other competitors” forced the NFL to hand down harsher punishments when it came to Deflategate, which resulted in a four-game suspension for quarterback Tom Brady, a $1 million fine and the loss of draft picks.
“Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases,” Kraft said. “I’m going into my 24th season as an owner. I’m passionate about owning a team in my hometown. If I hadn’t won, I would be so angry at our folks and thinking about what I could do to do it.
“So our competitors, I understand they brought pressure on the league office to be very strong and not compromise on an issue that was complete nonsense and foolishness,” he said.
Despite the sanctions, Kraft had the last laugh when the Patriots overcame a 25-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons at Super Bowl 51 in February.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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