The strange story that's been dubbed Deflategate by the media continues to dominate football talk in New England and, in many ways, throughout the NFL.
Recent weeks brought the Wells Report, the NFL’s discipline and the Patriots legal team’s response.
Today the patriarch of the Patriots organization, New England owner Robert Kraft, comments for the first time publicly since his team's almost unfathomable punishment at the hands of the league.
Kraft spoke on the phone for 50 minutes with Peter King for MMQB.com. King described Kraft as sounding “alternately defiant and angry.”
"This whole thing has been very disturbing," Kraft said. "I'm still thinking things out very carefully. But when you work for something your whole life …
"I just get really worked up. To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair. The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn't fair. If we're giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting. But in this report, every inference went against us … inferences from ambiguous, circumstantial evidence all went against us. That's the thing that really bothers me.
"If they want to penalize us because there's an aroma around this? That's what this feels like. If you don't have the so-called smoking gun, it really is frustrating. And they don't have it. This thing never should have risen to this level."
In a related story, the Boston Globe's *Sunday football notes says NFL independent investigator Ted Wells needs to speak again to explain more about his report. The *Globe also has a look Tom Brady’s fame over his time in New England and how that's altered the way his lives his life in public. The Globe believes that Brady may have a tough time defeating NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in court, while columnist Chris Gasper says the quarterback needs to step up and voice defense publicly.
The NFL owners will meet this week outside San Francisco, and the Boston Herald says that all eyes will be on Kraft and Goodell at the meetings. Herald columnist Ron Borges says the Kraft family is coming “perilously close” to becoming the modern version of Al Davis, the late litigious owner of the Raiders. Elsewhere, the* Herald's* Steve Buckley says Brady’s legacy will not be tarnished the end.
The Providence Journal has a pair of columnists with differing takes on Deflategate, with Jim Donaldson finding strange humor in the story while Bill Reynolds says it will “forever scar” the Patriots.
ESPNBoston.com reports that the Patriots have re-signed linebacker Brandon Spikes, while the team is parting ways with cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, who it signed earlier this spring. The site also passes along Dominique Easley telling Sirius XM NFL radio that he'll be ready to go for training camp after landing on IR to close out his rookie season with a knee injury. Mike Reiss’ ever-informative Sunday notes cover a variety of topics.
ESPN says the NFL and Goodell have “credibility issues” in the Deflategate story.
WEEI.com notes that Brady and Michael Jordan were once again seen golfing together, this time a casual round in the Bahamas. WEEI.com columnist John Tomase offers his random thoughts on Deflategate. WEEI also offers up a very believable early 53-man roster projection for the Patriots.
NFL.com listed Patriots sixth-round pick AJ Derby as a potential impact day-three selection.
