Robert Kraft's Hall of Fame wait will reportedly last another year. The Patriots' longtime owner will not make the final cut as a contributor for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2025 class, according to ESPN. Kraft, 83, was a semifinalist.
Kraft is still without a bronze bust and gold jacket despite his peerless 30-year run as the Patriots' owner. During his ownership, the Patriots have won six Super Bowls (the most ever for an owner) and 10 conference titles (also the most ever for an owner). Kraft's legacy also includes keeping the Patriots in New England, ending the 2011 NFL lockout and his role in brokering lucrative broadcast deals for the league.
However, there is apparently one big reason why Hall of Fame voters continue to leave Kraft out in the cold despite his accomplishments.
"Some voters believe he was part of the biggest cheating scandal in NFL history," a veteran Hall of Fame voter recently told ESPN in a story detailng Kraft's Hall of Fame struggle. "That's a very tough one to overcome."
In 2007, the Patriots were fined $250,000 and docked a first-round pick for illegally videotaping the Jets' signals during New England's Week 1 win over New York. Then-Patriots coach Bill Belichick -- who is considered a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible for induction -- was fined $500,000.
Kraft has denied knowledge of Spygate and said that he called Belichick a "schmuck" back then for attempting to steal signs during the recent Apple TV+ documentary on the New England dynasty. Bill Polian, a Hall of Fame enshrinee who lost several playoff games to Kraft's Patriots during his years as Colts general manager, came to Kraft's defense during a conversation with fellow voters last year.
"I told them that Mr. Kraft knew nothing about Spygate in advance," Polian told ESPN, "and [he] took whatever steps he needed to take after it was found out that it did not happen again."
Spygate is an undeniable stain on Kraft's resume, but should it keep arguably the most successful owner in NFL history out of the Hall of Fame? As longtime NFL writer and Hall of Fame voter Peter King recently said, there are plenty of imperfect people who are currently wearing gold jackets.
For example, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the first NFL owner to win five Super Bowls, was inducted in 2016 despite losing the 49ers in 2000 due to his connection to an extortion case. Back then, the voters felt that his contributions to the NFL outweighed his mistake.
"Has there ever been a player, a coach, an owner, a commissioner who has a perfect résumé? Who has never done anything wrong?" King said per ESPN. "Look at Joe Namath. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns -- he's in the Hall of Fame."
While it may be the most damning one, Spygate isn't the only reason why Kraft is still not in the Hall of Fame. A dozen Hall voters also mentioned Deflategate and the dismissed charges after Kraft's two visits to a Jupiter, Florida, massage parlor as reasons why Kraft hasn't been inducted. Some voters have also been turned off by Kraft's own efforts (the Apple TV+ documentary and a 2020 book chronicling the Patriots' dynasty that Kraft contributed to) to bolster his case.
Despite all of this, it does appear that the Kraft's wait will eventually end now that the Hall's nine-member contributors-only committee will consider owners without competition from coaches. A "majority" of the committee members are Kraft supporters, according to ESPN.
