The NFL is on a crusade to destroy its best player and ambassador. That is what one of the league's most powerful owners has asserted.

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This is powerful stuff from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. He has built a reputation for being shrewd but fair, an old-school negotiator who looks you in the eye, squeezes your handshake and wants to know your word means something. When he airs a grievance, his fellow owners listen. That's the guy who calmly and surgically struck at the NFL's league office on Wednesday.

Not since Al Davis have we seen an owner so boldly announce his wavering belief in the league's integrity. And buried within that message, he exposed an ugly belief about a smear campaign.

In essence, Kraft painted the league as being on a single-minded and destructive bent against quarterback Tom Brady, an office that plowed through the concepts of proof and justice. He called the NFL's decision to uphold Brady's four-game suspension "unfathomable" and stated that "the league's handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating."

And for the first time, he put words to what Patriots officials have been furiously questioning for months. Specifically, why the NFL never stepped in to correct an ESPN report that, relying on league sources, cited incorrect ball inflation numbers. That report stated, "The NFL has found that 11 of the New England Patriots 12 game balls were inflated significantly below the NFL's requirements … 2 pounds per square inch below what's required by NFL regulations during the Pats' 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts."

The Patriots have long felt that the specific passage of the report, coming two days after the AFC championship game, incited the furor over deflate-gate, and set a narrative of absolute guilt that has never gone away. Ultimately, the measurements released in Ted Wells' investigative report showed the 11 Patriots balls were an average of 1 pound below the 12.5 psi floor. Amongst some inside the Patriots organization, that discrepancy gave birth to a pointed conspiracy: That someone inside the league office has got it out for the Patriots and leaked the incorrect numbers to ESPN. In turn, this is allegedly why the league never stepped forward to correct the disparity. And while Kraft didn't come right out and say that Wednesday, he came darn close.

"I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the psi level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game [and] was never corrected by those who had the correct information," Kraft said. "For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion. Yesterday's decision by Commissioner [Roger] Goodell was released in a similar manner under an erroneous headline that read, 'Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone'. This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure [the fact the NFL still has no hard] evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs.

"It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during the relevant time frame."

In the history of the NFL, that is a whopper of a statement for an owner to levy against his commissioner and league office. We're talking true Al Davis vs. Pete Rozelle stuff. And this by an owner that has basically been one of Goodell's staunchest supporters from the start. But now? Kraft is essentially saying that he believes the NFL's powers that be fraudulently undercut the Patriots not once, but twice. And that they perpetrated at least part of that fraud through Goodell.

That's the kind of thing that catches the eye of other NFL owners. Kraft might be on an island in this battle, but everyone can see the flag he just hoisted: "You cannot trust the league office." And he went on to point out that this isn't just any player. It's an assault against what Kraft deems as one of the league's cornerstones. And Kraft seems to be saying if the NFL office can railroad Tom Brady to serve itself, who is safe?

"For reasons I can't comprehend," Kraft said, "there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed. I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. … Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect."

That may very well be the strongest statement made by an NFL owner about his lack of trust in the league's ability to be fair and just. And you can be sure that any goodwill that was renewed when Kraft stood down against the NFL and accepted team penalties has been completely wiped away.

As Kraft said Wednesday, "I was wrong to put my faith in the league."

When one of your most ambassadorial owners says something like that, it's hard to imagine things getting much worse.