Immediately after the NFL released a statement Friday afternoon that the league was still investigating allegations that the New England Patriots under-inflated footballs prior to the team’s AFC Championship game last weekend, owner Robert Kraft has also released a statement (via Patriots official website).
On Monday, I received a letter from the league office informing me that they would be conducting an investigation into the air pressure of the game balls. Immediately after receiving the letter, I instructed our staff to be completely cooperative and transparent with the league’s investigators.
During the three days they were here, we provided access to every full- and part-time employee the league’s representatives requested to speak with and produced every communication device that they requested to search. It is an ongoing process that the league and our team are taking very seriously.
I very much support the league’s desire to conduct a complete investigation and welcome the appointment of Ted Wells to lead the process. Competitive balance and the integrity of the game are the foundation of what makes our league so special and I have the utmost respect for those principles.
Our organization will continue to cooperate throughout the league’s investigation. Meanwhile, our players, coaches and staff will continue to focus on our preparations for Super Bowl XLIX and the many challenges we face as we prepare for the Seattle Seahawks.
That’s a lot of words to tell us whole bunch of nothing.
Kraft indicates that the team is working with the league to get to the bottom of the situation, but he fails to get into too much detail regarding what is happening behind the scenes. While that’s to be expected regarding an ongoing investigation, New England’s attempt to sweep this statement under the rug during a slow Friday afternoon news cycle is laughable. As we saw during the entire Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson situations, this is the time that both the league and teams tend to release information and statements regarding ongoing scandals.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, the media and the NFL isn’t going to sweep this under the rug. At least, Kraft didn’t take to the podium in a press conference that probably would have rivaled Tom Brady’s comedic performance from Thursday.
Photo: Metro.us