Soon after, Kraft tackled a topic many Patriots fans would love to know: How long can he keep Tom Brady and Bill Belichick around?

Kraft recalled his thoughts right before Butler’s interception: “We have great confidence in our coach and our team, but we were not in a good position at second and 1 [from the New England 1-yard line]. Thank goodness for Malcolm Butler, who came in and did something he’ll forever be in Boston sports lore for.”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined CBS’s “This Morning” on Friday and touched on various topics, including his fourth Super Bowl title and Deflategate.


“As long as the good Lord lets me breathe,” Kraft replied. “That’s my objective. We’ve been able to keep it together for 15 years. I don’t recall another head coach-ownership relationship like that. And [Brady] is so special. We’re so lucky to have him.”

When asked if he had any sympathy for Pete Carroll, who coached the Patriots prior to Belichick, Kraft didn’t bite.

“Well, we had two Super Bowls where we lost right at the end,” he recalled. “It’s sort of cruel. When we lost to the Giants, we were 18-0.”

As expected, it didn’t take too long for Deflategate to be brought up.

When asked by interviewer Charlie Rose to reflect on the “deflated balls,” the Patriots owner was quick to make a joke.

“I think Tom Brady is healthy and vibrant, I don’t think there’s any relevance to that comment,” he said.

The Patriots owner was also asked about how Deflategate might have affected the team before the Super Bowl.

“Whenever you’re privileged enough to get to this big game, there’s always a lot of distractions that come about,” he said. “Bottom line is, we won our championship game, 45-7, and we won our Super Bowl game, 28-24, when the league pretty much had full charge of the footballs.”


But not even a week later, Kraft is already thinking about next year.

“Nobody has won back-to-back Super Bowls since we did it in 2003-04,” he said. “And we’d sure like to add to that.”

Follow Sebastian Lena on Twitter @GlobeSPL.