Hall of Fame reportedly snubs Patriots owner Kraft alongside former coach Belichick

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has reportedly joined his team’s former head coach Bill Belichick in missing out on this year’s Hall of Fame class.

ESPN cited several league sources, who said that Kraft did not receive the necessary number of votes to enter the Hall. The new members of the Hall of Fame will be revealed on Thursday night, in the run-up to this weekend’s Super Bowl.

Belichick and Kraft led one of the NFL’s most successful dynasties in New England, winning six Super Bowls together over the course of more than two decades. If the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s Super Bowl it will be Kraft’s first championship without Belichick as head coach. The victory would also mean the Patriots would move out of a tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins by a franchise.

Last week, it emerged that Belichick had failed to secure the required votes to enter the Hall of Fame this year, despite being widely considered one of the greatest head coaches of all time. Belichick reportedly said “Six Super Bowls isn’t enough?” when he was told he hadn’t made the Hall of Fame this year.

On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he believed both men deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. The NFL does not decide who enters the Hall.

“We are not involved in it,” Goodell said. “Bill Belichick’s record goes without saying, same with the Patriots and Robert Kraft, who is also a candidate. They are spectacular. They have contributed so much to this game, and I believe they will be Hall of Famers.”

Kraft’s apparent exclusion dampens speculation that Kraft lobbied voters to keep his former head coach out of the Hall after their relationship soured. Kraft denied those rumors last 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,” Kraft said in his statement last Wednesday.

“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.”

Others have speculated that Kraft and Belichick have been passed over by voters due to the Spygate and Deflategate scandals that marred the team’s reputation.

Kraft was first nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2013 but this was the first year he was a finalist. Other NFL owners such as Jerry Jones, Pat Bowlen, Eddie DeBartolo Jr, and Dan Rooney are already in the Hall of Fame.

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