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Robert Kraft attacks the NFL, apologizes to Patriots fans

The last time New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft addressed deflate-gate, he stood on a podium and accepted the punishment of the team by the NFL. He didn't say it at the time, but he thought by doing so he would help Tom Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension.

It didn't help. The suspension was upheld on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Kraft was angry. Kraft apologized to the fans for accepting the Patriots penalties. He said he was wrong to do so.

"I was wrong to put my faith in the league," Kraft said. "Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it’s completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect. Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me."

Everyone came to the Patriots' facility to hear coach Bill Belichick's views on the matter, but he was unsurprisingly mute on the situation ("It’s already been addressed" was his favorite non-answer to all the deflate-gate questions). Kraft provided the team's thoughts instead, and it's clear he's back to being angry and combative with the NFL.

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Kraft went back to an ESPN story shortly after the deflate-gate story broke, which reported incorrect psi numbers and shaped the controversy because the NFL never corrected them although it had the correct numbers. Kraft flatly said the NFL leaked that story, which should be troubling to everyone in the league if true.

"The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting," Kraft said in his statement, which was broadcast by NFL Network. "I’ll never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the initial psi level of footballs (which) was leaked by a source in the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion."

Kraft also wasn't happy that the NFL focused on Brady's destroyed cell phone in its announcement on Tuesday. The league had no right to look at Brady's personal communication. Brady explained the situation in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning. Brady gave over information on who he texted after his phone, which he said was broken, was destroyed. Kraft said the NFL focused on the phone because it had no evidence of Brady's wrongdoing.

"This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering regarding the air pressure of footballs," Kraft said. "It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgment that Tom provided the history of every number he texted in that time frame."

Kraft said he has come to the conclusion that the league never cared about doing "what was fair and just." he said he thought the NFL, based on its history of reducing punishment, would do so with Brady after he accepted the team punishment.

"Back in May I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret," Kraft said. "I tried to do what I thought was right."

Kraft said he wouldn't address the matter again until the legal action is finished, and said he would advise everyone in the organization to do the same. Certainly Belichick won't address it. He deflected every question.

"You heard what Robert just said, it’s already been addressed," Belichick said. "Maybe you ought to go back and look at your notes."

Once again, the Patriots have a reason to believe it's them against the rest of the league. This time, however, it looks like they'll go into the season with that chip on their shoulder but their future Hall of Fame quarterback on the sideline for a quarter of the season.

 

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!