New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Snubbed From Pro Football Hall Of Fame
If you thought the football world had run out of ways to shock us this week, you might want to sit down. Just days after the legendary Bill Belichick was left standing at the altar by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft has been handed the same fate.
That’s right. The architect of the greatest dynasty in modern sports history, the man who signed the checks for six Lombardi Trophies, isn’t getting a gold jacket this year. According to league sources, Kraft, a finalist in the Contributor category for the Class of 2026, failed to secure the necessary votes from the selection committee.
The team is currently gearing up for Super Bowl LX, yet the two men most responsible for the franchise’s relevance are being told, “Thanks, but not quite yet.”
Kraft Falls Short Of the Magic Number
Here is the nitty-gritty of how this went down. To get into Canton, a finalist needs 80% approval from the 50-person selection committee. That’s 40 “yes” votes. It sounds simple enough for a guy with Kraft’s resume, but the room where it happens is notoriously fickle.
This year, the ballot was a crowded house. You had Kraft as the Contributor finalist, Belichick as the Coach finalist, and three Senior player finalists. The voters were tasked with picking three out of those five to move forward for the final vote. Somewhere in that math, the support for Kraft just didn’t add up to 40.
It is a baffling result when you look at the raw data. We are talking about an owner who took a franchise that was essentially a punchline in the early 90s and turned it into a global powerhouse. Since buying the team in 1994, the Patriots have more Super Bowl appearances (10) than any other owner in history.
A Resume That Usually Screams “First Ballot”
Let’s be real for a second. If you owned a car dealership and sold more cars than anyone else in history for two decades straight, you’d expect to win “Salesman of the Year” eventually.
Kraft didn’t just win games; he changed the league. He was a pivotal figure in solving the 2011 NFL lockout, famously helping Jeff Saturday and the players find common ground with ownership to save the season. He has been a titan in broadcast negotiations and league growth.
Yet, for the voters, there seems to be a hesitation. Is it fatigue? Is it the “Patriots Way” rubbing people the wrong way? Or is it simply that the new voting procedures, which pitted Kraft against his own former head coach in a battle for limited spots, cannibalized the votes? It is entirely possible that voters trying to navigate the Belichick situation inadvertently squeezed Kraft out of the picture.
The Irony Of the 2026 Season
The timing here is frankly hilarious in a dark, cosmic sort of way. We are looking at a scenario where the Patriots are preparing to play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. The franchise is thriving. The legacy is alive and well.
Roger Goodell, the commissioner himself, went on record saying both Kraft and Belichick “will be Hall of Famers.” But “will be” doesn’t help you fit into a gold jacket on Thursday night at the NFL Honors.
Kraft, to his credit, took the high road regarding his former coach earlier this week. When news broke that Belichick didn’t make the cut, Kraft released a statement calling him the “greatest coach of all time” and stating he “unequivocally deserves” to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It was a classy move from the owner, even as he likely wondered if he was about to suffer the same snub.
What Does Kraft Have To Do?
This leaves us asking a question that feels ridiculous to even type: What more does Kraft need to do? He has the rings. He has the wins. He has the “saved the franchise” narrative. He has the “saved the league season” narrative. At 84 years old, waiting another year feels less like a procedural hurdle and more like a lack of respect for what has been accomplished in Foxborough.
For now, the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will proceed without the Patriots’ patriarch. The busts will be carved, the speeches will be written, and the gold jackets will be tailored. But when the ceremony kicks off in Canton, there will be a massive, dynasty-sized hole in the lineup.
Kraft will likely be in a luxury suite somewhere, perhaps watching his team try to secure yet another Super Bowl title, wondering just how many trophies it takes to convince 50 people in a conference room that he belongs.
