New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Says Deflategate Penalties are ‘Not Fair’

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is not happy about the penalties his team received in regards to the Deflategate scandal. Kraft expressed his anger over the league's decision with SI.com's Peter King, stating, "the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair."'

The NFL fined the Patriots $1 million for the Deflategate scandal, which stemmed from the AFC Championship game that the Patriots played against the Indianapolis Colts. During that game, it was discovered that the Patriots had played with tampered footballs that were not properly inflated. Inflated footballs are generally easier to play with.

The investigation led by attorney Ted Wells, concluded that two Patriots employees purposely deflated the footballs. Wells also found that quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady was "generally aware" of the team attendants' wrongdoing.

Although there was no definitive evidence that Brady was a part of the scandal, the report concluded that it was "more probable than not" that he had knowledge of it.

Brady has been suspended four games, a punishment that he has already appealed. The Patriots were also docked two future draft picks. Kraft stated that he will take Brady's word over the league's investigation any day.

"He's a man, and he's always been honest with me, and I trust him," Kraft said. "I believed what he told me. He has never lied to me, and I have found no hard or conclusive evidence to the contrary."

Kraft was particularly upset over the fact that the league gave such a harsh punishment when the evidence surrounding the case was not definitive.

"If they want to penalize us because there's an aroma around this? That's what this feels like," Kraft said. "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."

He added, "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."

Kraft will be seeing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell very soon since the NFL owners' meetings begin this Tuesday, May 19.