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Whether you love them or despise them, there is no doubt that the New England Patriots are the NFL's greatest dynasty and are constantly being discussed as possibly the greatest team of all time. While owner Robert Kraft continues to make his team a success–and let's not forget the dynamic duo of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady–there are still many dark secrets lingering about this accomplished NFL team.

Even if you aren't the biggest NFL fan, we all know about the 2015 Deflategate controversy, involving serious allegations that the Patriots deliberately under-inflated footballs that were used during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts and led to the Pats' victory. The controversy continued onto the 2016 season, and funny enough, we saw Tom Brady take his team to another victory, winning Super Bowl LI and was named MVP of the game.

That was just one scandal surrounding the Patriots. If you're up on your history of this Boston team, then you're quite aware of 2007's Spygate and even 1982's controversial snowplow story. There have been quite a few things that the Pats and owner Robert Kraft have been keeping secret. Check out these fifteen dark secrets about Kraft and his successful NFL team you might not have known.

Deflategate Controversy: Patriots Called It "Stupid," But Did They Really Know?

Deflategate is one of the biggest controversies that have surrounded the NFL and the New England Patriots. There were allegations that the Pats purposely under-inflated footballs used in their win against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Championship Game of the 2014-2015 NFL playoffs. There was an investigation as to why eleven of

the twelve footballs the Pats provided for the game were under-inflated by about 2 pounds per square inch each, which reportedly makes it easier to grip for the quarterback and receivers.

With the wet conditions in which the game was played, the footballs played to Brady's advantage. Several Pats players called the controversy "stupid," and the team faced a $1 million fine and lost two draft picks. We'll probably never know if the team really knew about the balls or not.

Spygate 2007 Rocks The NFL

There were a number of accusations of spying on teams, but there was actually proof of spying back in 2007. The NFL disciplined the New England Patriots after the team was caught recording the New York Jets' practices.

Defensive signals, formations, and different strategies used by the Jets personnel were stolen by the Pats.

While videotaping is not illegal, there are certain designated areas where you can do so. However, because the Pats were videotaping the Jets' coaches from their sideline during a September 2007 game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believed it to be a violation. The team's coach, Bill Belichick, was fined $500,000 (the largest fine ever given to a coach in the NFL's history), the team was fined $250,000, and they were stripped of their first-round pick the following year.

When Robert Kraft Almost Started WWIII Against Russia Over Super Bowl Ring

Owner Robert Kraft may have almost started a third World War with Russia in 2005. During that year, Kraft met with Putin and took out his $25,000 Super Bowl XXXIX ring to show the president. After Putin tried on the ring, he reportedly told Kraft, "I can kill someone with this ring." Kraft then told the New York Post,

"I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."

To avoid any confrontation, the White House had to step in and advised Kraft to say that he gave Putin the ring as a gift. Kraft followed White House orders like a true Patriot, that is until 2013 when he finally admitted Putin stole the ring. The Super Bowl ring is reportedly being kept in the Kremlin Library.

The Snowplow Game That Gave The Pats A 3-0 Win Against The Miami Dolphins

During a regular season game on December 12, 1982, the Miami Dolphins made their way to a very wet, cold, and snowy Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Patriots. Snowplows were used to try and clear the field of snow, but the ground crew could not plow often enough as conditions were pretty rough. The two teams remained scoreless late into the fourth quarter. With weather conditions getting worse, Patriots coach Ron Meyer ordered snowplow operator Mark Henderson to clear a spot specifically for placekicker John Smith. At first, it did not seem suspicious that Henderson was clearing off the field. However,

instead of plowing straight across, Henderson veered left, directly in front of the goal post, giving Smith a clean spot for him to kick.

The kick ended up being successful and the Patriots ended up winning the game 3-0. Dolphins coach Don Shula was angry, and while he and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle believed it was an unfair advantage, Rozelle didn't reverse the results of the game.

Robert Kraft's Obsession With Tom Brady

Robert Kraft has always said that quarterback Tom Brady is like his "fifth son," but isn't he just a little too obsessed with the star quarterback? Do Kraft's kids feel jealous about their father's odd and very close relationship with Tom Brady? Robert Kraft's son, Jonathan Kraft, had this to say about his father's unconditional love for Brady: "The worst part about having Tommy as a brother is that he's taller, he's more handsome, he's smarter, he's much more talented, he's got a big full head of hair." We think he might feel a little threatened.

Allowing The Use Of Illegal Plays To Win Games

Not only have the New England Patriots spied on teams to try and gain an advantage, but they've also been known to use illegal plays to win football games. In 2015, the New England Pats took on the Baltimore Ravens and ended up winning the AFC divisional playoff game after falling down a total of 14 points. With the use of many illegal plays and formations that even fooled the refs on the field, the Pats managed to come back to win the game 35 to 31. The Ravens' head coach wasted no time in calling out the Patriots and called it "deception."

Tom Brady's Weird And Strict Diet And $200 Cookbook

Everyone wants to look like Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen, so the football player came out with his own cookbook titled TB12 Nutrition Manual, which includes 89 seasonally-inspired recipes. The book cost a ridiculous $200 at the time, and there were plenty of discussions about why buying the book was a very bad idea. Tom Brady's diet also seems a little strange. The quarterback's diet is extremely strict, and

he and his wife do not eat dairy, olive oil, white sugar, white flour, caffeine, iodized salt, fungi, or nightshade vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes.

He also has a recipe for avocado ice cream which, instead of wasting $200 on reading how to make it, we're pretty sure you can just find it on Google.

That Time Rob Gronkowski Reportedly Dated...

Did Patriots star Rob Gronkowski date an adult entertainment star? It was reported that the Pats' tight end was dating adult film star Bibi Jones after a photo showed her wearing his official NFL jersey while standing next to a shirtless Gronk. Bibi claimed that she and Gronkowski did not have an actual romantic relationship and that the infamous photo was only posted by Gronk to gain more Twitter followers. Who knows what really was going on with the pair, though. After all, Gronkowski is known to have a pretty wild party side to him so no one was really shocked about this photo, but he did have to issue an apology for it.

Aaron Hernandez's Strange Timing

Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez shocked the world when he was found guilty for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, and it was even more shocking when the former star was found dead in his prison cell after he had taken his own life by hanging himself. The timing of his death is strange because even though Hernandez was serving his prison time for Lloyd’s murder, he was found not guilty of murdering two men in Boston and not guilty of five or six other charges. If he was still alive, there might have been a glimmer of hope that his attorneys would have worked on appealing his conviction and that some day he might have been freed.

The Friction Between Bill Belichick And Tom Brady's Close Friend And Trainer Alex Guerrero

Coach Bill Belichick had enough of Tom Brady's trainer and close friend Alex Guerrero's presence around his team and decided to ban him from the team's private charter and sideline on game days.

Belichick declined to explain why he decided to do this, but there seemed to be a weird friction between the two.

One reasoning behind the banning was that the Patriots' medical and training personnel were clashing with Guerrero's holistic style of treatment. Tom Brady is likely going to have to find a new way to get to Guerrero while Belichick isn't watching his every move.

Coach Bill Belichick's Refusal To Let Madden Use His Image

Reportedly, Pats' Coach Bill Belichick isn't letting the EA Sports "Madden" NFL franchise use his image or even his name in any of their iconic games. Instead, he is replaced with a mystery doppelganger named "Josh Moore." For some very odd reason (we might likely never know why),

the coach refuses to have his likeness be a part of the popular video game.

Is it because Bill Belichick doesn't want his likeness to look like a constant grumpy old guy? When he was asked by a reporter about why he does not want to be associated with the Madden NFL game, Belichick simply answered, "I don't know." There is definitely something fishy going on here...

 No One Knows How Much Bill Belichick Makes

No one really knows how much coach Bill Belichick makes a year. Somehow, the Patriots have managed to keep Belichick's contract under wraps.

There have been speculations that the coach brings home more than $10 million annually, but that number could be larger since his initial contract with the team back in 2000.

Belichick seems to just stick to talking about football when surrounded by reporters. When asked to talk about his contract, Belichick simply stated, "I don't talk about contracts, but I would say I like working here." In 2011, Forbes wrote, "The Patriots have never publicly confirmed Belichick's contract details, but industry pundits have little doubt that the long-term extension he signed in 2007 is north of the roughly $7 million annually that Mike Holmgren was getting from the Seattle Seahawks."

Gisele Bundchen Makes A Heck Of A Lot More Money Than Tom Brady

According to some sites, Tom Brady has a career net worth of about 180 million dollars, which includes $8 million in endorsements with Under Armour and Ugg Boots. Her husband, Tom Brady's net worth is nothing compared to his supermodel wife! It's been reported that the beautiful Gisele Bundchen

has an insane career net worth of $380 million,

thanks to her respective modeling career. Forbes has estimated that over the past twelve months (that's just one short year), Gisele has managed to earn about 47 million dollars or $128,000 a day. You go, girl!

The President Called Robert Kraft Once A Week For An Entire Year When Wife Passed

Robert Kraft has been a lifelong Democrat and even donated to President Barack Obama's campaigns, so when Kraft lost his wife, it was surprising to hear that President Donald Trump was one of the few people that was truly there for him. "When Myra died, Melania and Donald came up to the funeral in our synagogue, then they came for memorial week to visit with me," Kraft said, adding, "Then he called me once a week for a whole year, the most depressing year of my life when I was down and out. He called me every week to see how I was doing, invited me to things, and tried to life my spirits. He was one of the five or six people that were like that. I remember that."

The Team That Never Was

Remember that time when the New England Patriots were almost the Saint Louis Stallions? That was the name of a proposed NFL team that never ended up happening, thanks to none other than Robert Kraft. However, before Kraft stepped in, there was a relocation attempt where James Orthwein bought the Patriots in 1992 and immediately wanted to relocate the team to St Louis. In 1994,

Orthwein offered Kraft $75 million to buy out the remainder of the team's lease

at what was now Foxboro Stadium. However, Robert Kraft turned down the large offer and it ended up resulting in Kraft purchasing the Pats in 1994.