in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 24, 2016 in Denver, Colorado.

Envy and jealousy are the root of many things, and according to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft that is exactly what motivated those behind the now infamous “Deflategate.”

In a not-so-subtle shot at the Indianapolis Colts, who started much of the last year of media questions, inquiries and craziness with hints of deflated footballs in the AFC playoff meeting between the two, Kraft intimated that jealousy and envy were exactly the motivating factors behind what took place.

“When you do well, everybody’s after you, and sometimes the motives are legitimate, and sometimes it’s envy and jealousy,” Kraft told the Boston Herald. “Thank goodness we’re looking out at that, and not having to feel those emotions.”

Whatever the motivating factors, New England was able to overcome plenty this season. It got over Tom Brady’s crazy offseason that saw him go from suspended for four games for his alleged role in Deflategate to having a court overturn said suspension.

There was also a $1 million team fine and a loss of the 2016 first-round NFL draft pick for the organization to overcome. Kraft admitted that the organization took all the NFL threw at it in the hopes of saving their star quarterback.

Instead, Goodell dropped the full hammer on Brady and it led to much legal wrangling and many Patriots fans feeling like the team just gave up.

“Who knows? Look, I made a strategic decision to help our guy (Brady) and to have him on the field. And then in the end, you’re appealing to the person who made the ruling,” Kraft said, alluding to Goodell.

“So you can fight, and not get anything. You might look good, but you’re not going to accomplish (anything), rather than try to do the least controversial thing to get value for our guy. But things didn’t work out the way we had hoped. But that’s in the past, and we’re moving on.”

New England’s hot start (10-0) was met with a cool finish (2-4), but the Patriots recovered and wound up in the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos.

It also meant the 17th edition of Brady-Manning meeting up, but this time the Patriots fight through adversity came up just a bit short. The host Broncos took down the Patriots 20-18 in a barn burner of a contest.

With it, a tumultuous and crazy 2015 offseason and season are put to rest. The question remains, will fans outside of New England see the Patriots ending up short of the Super Bowl enough to drop the whole Deflategate and cheating angle?

[h/t Yardbarker]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!