Curran: Robert Kraft Doesn’t Expect Hall of Fame at This Time originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
An extensive article published on ESPN.com on Wednesday detailed Robert Kraft’s years-long battle to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which has so far been unsuccessful.
But the bulk of author Don Van Natta Jr.’s piece focused on the efforts of those all around the owner of the New England Patriots — specifically the team’s vice president of media relations, Stacey James — to bring Kraft to Canton.
So, while Kraft is clearly at the center of his own Hall of Fame campaign, it’s worth asking how he’s feeling personally after repeatedly falling short in the Hall of Fame ballot. Our Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran provided some interesting insight into that question in the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
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“When I talked to people after the Hall of Fame vote, whether it was Stacey (James), whether it was Jonathan Kraft (Kraft’s son and Patriots team president) … those people were even more disappointed than they thought Robert was,” Curran said, as seen in the video above.
“Robert, when I asked, ‘So, how’s Kraft doing?’ He’s actually fine with it. He just doesn’t expect to get in now, so he doesn’t have high expectations. He’s had high expectations too many times before.”
Kraft has appeared on multiple Hall of Fame ballots in the “coach/contributor” category over the years but has always fallen short, never making it past the semifinals. So while it’s clear that Kraft would love to be in the Hall of Fame and is annoyed that some of his contemporaries have been inducted before him — Kraft saw Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ 2017 Hall of Fame induction as an “insult,” according to Van Natta — perhaps all those years of falling short have softened the pain of being ignored.
“Kraft is certainly not ambivalent, but the ball has been taken from him too many times to really get angry about it,” Curran added.
Kraft is said to be frustrated; the Brookline, Massachusetts, native has transformed an NFL doormat into perhaps the most successful franchise in professional sports. Since buying the Patriots in 1994, he’s overseen six Super Bowl titles and 10 AFC championships. He seems to have more than enough credentials to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The reasons for not inducting him—the team’s involvement in scandals like Spygate and Deflategate, and Kraft’s own personal scandal involving the Orchids of Asia massage parlor—aren’t all that relevant, given the past transgressions of other NFL owners in Canton.
It appears Kraft has resigned himself to his current fate, or at least had enough of the emotional rollercoaster of the annual voting process.
Also in this episode:
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Can the Patriots be an efficient passing offense if teams start to slow down their run game?
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What to Expect from the Seahawks Offensive Play
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Can the Patriots move the ball against Seattle’s strong secondary and pass rush?
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Tom and Phil make their choices in this week’s “Total Insight.”
