The San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots have a rather tame history when it comes to the two teams players each other. They aren’t a direct rival, and they have not historically had that much animosity between them. But the Patriots are generally considered to be the bad guys of the NFL.
Of course, this term is used very lightly given the current state of world politics and the abundance of actual bad guys, but the Patriots are extremely good at this football thing. They know they’re good, too.
Robert Kraft knows he has the most pull of any owner in the league.