Robert Kraft, the 83-year-old owner of the New England Patriots and six-time Super Bowl champion, is waiting to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But according to a Wednesday report by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., the wait hasn’t been a fun one.
For the past decade or so, Kraft’s team, led by Patriots communications director Stacey James, has been trying to get Kraft inducted in Canton, Ohio, with zero success, and the 12-person panel that decides the final vote has never mentioned Kraft’s name to any of the 50 selection committee members.
The wait has reportedly left Kraft frustrated, and he had some harsh words for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones about his Hall of Fame plans.
Kraft took Jerry Jones’ selection as an affront and decided that Jones was more responsible for the NFL’s phenomenal success.
“He hasn’t been to an NFC Finals in 20 years and he’s going to be there?,” Kraft told a close friend. “How does that work?”
There are several benefits to Kraft being a Hall of Fame candidate.
There are, of course, the six Super Bowl wins over two decades as the NFL’s top team. While Tom Brady and Bill Belichick deserve more credit for it, it’s been an incredible run for a team that was on the verge of being moved before Kraft bought it in 1994. Kraft is also one of the NFL’s most influential owners, helping negotiate an end to the lockout in 2011 and serving as chairman of the Owners Media Committee that recently negotiated a $110 billion television rights deal.
Then there are the scandals. During Kraft’s ownership of the team, there was Spygate, Deflategate and a scandal involving his own Florida massage parlors. None of them hurt Kraft’s image, but it was Spygate that seemed to bother voters the most.
A small number of anti-Kraft voters told ESPN they have long harbored concerns that Kraft may have known much more about Spygate than he has admitted to. “Some voters believe that Kraft was involved in the largest cheating scandal in NFL history,” one veteran Hall of Fame voter said. “That’s a very difficult problem to overcome.”
“Kraft has distanced herself from Spygate, but the issue has come up and needs to be looked at,” said another voter.
As for Jones, he certainly had his critics for the decision to induct him into the Hall of Fame in 2016 (which is when some owners, not just Kraft, apparently started to wonder why they, too, weren’t getting their hands on Canton). Though the franchise has won three Super Bowls since Jones bought it in 1989, he’s also made some puzzling decisions. “America’s Team” hasn’t appeared in the NFC Championship Game, let alone a Super Bowl, since the 1995 season.
One voter explained to Kraft that Jones came out on top because of his role as a marketer.
Longtime Hall of Fame voter Jason Cole said he sat down for an interview with Kraft and James in Kraft’s wood-paneled Foxboro office in August 2017. A few minutes into the conversation, Kraft asked Cole, “How did Jerry Jones get into the Hall of Fame?”
“He’s P.T. Barnum,” Cole replied, repeating a sentiment James had expressed earlier when he called seeking clarification: “He’s the greatest marketer in the history of sports.” Kraft simply laughed, Cole recalled.
Since 2000, only five owners have been inducted into the Hall of Fame: Jones, Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ralph Wilson of the Buffalo Bills, Eddie DeBartolo of the San Francisco 49ers and Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos.
The good news for Kraft is a major voting change that puts him in his favor: The Hall of Fame has long voted for a coach/contributor class, and owners will have to compete with coaches, league executives and, in 2022, umpires.
That will change this year, reportedly with coaches and contributors split into different categories, meaning Kraft will have less competition, but the question is whether he can overcome other headwinds.
