Robert Kraft is Team Bill Belichick.
Despite clashing in recent years, Kraft came out in support of his former Patriots head coach after his reported Pro Football Hall of Fame snub this week.
“Whatever perceptions may exist about any personal differences between Bill and me, I strongly believe Bill Belichick’s record and body of work speak for themselves,” the longtime New England owner said in a statement, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
“As head coach of the New England Patriots for more than two decades, he set the standard for on-field excellence, preparation, and sustained success in the free agency and salary cap era of the National Football League. He is the greatest coach of all time and he unequivocally deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.”
Kraft and Belichick spent 24 years together in New England, winning six Super Bowls, but their relationship soured in the later years before parting ways in 2024.
Kraft is far from the only person in the football world appalled by Belichick getting passed over during his first time on the ballot, a decision first reported by ESPN on Tuesday evening.
Dozens of prominent figures, including President Donald Trump, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady, have already spoken out for Belichick.
Kraft, 84, who has owned the Patriots since 1994, is himself under consideration for the Hall of Fame.
He has long been seeking a bid to Canton, having fallen short in the voting 13 times before this year’s go-round.
Kraft and Belichick were competing against senior Hall of Fame candidates, Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood.
It’s unclear if Kraft received enough votes for induction.
The 2026 inductees will be officially announced next week, with the formal ceremony to take place in August.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
