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Robert Kraft Says He Doesn't Hold Grudges In Regards To Deflategate, Talks Trump Friendship

HBO’s “Real Sports” last night profiled Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT, and reporter Andrea Kremer said the week following the team’s Super Bowl LI victory for Kraft “was a week of redemption after what he says was a long and difficult year spent under the cloud" of Deflategate. Kremer said after winning the Super Bowl, Kraft “became a folk hero in his hometown.” However, Kraft said that for the rest of the country, “he and his team became a target.” Kraft: “When anyone wins at anything too often, then you start to bring out feelings that aren't maybe the most collegial in other people.” Kremer asked, “Meaning you're on top and people want to start knocking you down?” Kraft: “Yes.” Kremer noted the “critics began to deride the Patriots as cheaters” after the Spygate and Deflategate scandals. Kremer: “Kraft denies that his team has ever cut corners, calling the accusations inaccurate and painful.” Kraft said, “I go back to my dad. He said, ‘The most important thing you can earn in life is a good name.’ That is impacting our good name or our reputation and it wasn't something that I appreciated.” Kremer asked, “What do you say to the critics who label the Patriots as cheaters?” Kraft: “Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases. The haters still hate and I understand it, and we'll do our best to keep them in that position.”

TRUMP CARD: Kremer noted criticism of the Patriots this fall "took on a new form when many fans and reporters grilled" Kraft, QB TOM BRADY and coach BILL BELICHICK over their "support of polarizing presidential candidate DONALD TRUMP." Kraft has known Trump for more than 20 years and after Kraft's wife, MYRA, died in '11 from ovarian cancer, he said that Trump "called him once a week for a year to check in on him.” Kraft: “At one of the darkest periods of my life, he really took an interest in a way that few people did. Do I agree with everything he says or espouses? No, but he's a friend and someone who was good to me at a very down time and I'll never forget that.”

RELATIONSHIP GOALS: Kremer asked about receiving the Lombardi Trophy from NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL on the podium after the Super Bowl and how Kraft managed to "suppress anger and frustration" that he previously said he had. Kraft: “I really don't hold grudges. I mean, I remember everything, but I move on.” Kremer said of Kraft’s relationship with Goodell, “He has said it’ll never be the same. We obviously asked him about it and he said it’s professional. He feels that (Goodell) has done the best for the good of the league but clearly it’s going to be different” (“Real Sports,” HBO, 2/21).

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