Tom Brady Badly Wants Patriots Owner Robert Kraft In Hall Of Fame
It’s an absolute guarantee that legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he’s first eligible in 2028.
But Brady hopes Patriots owner Robert Kraft gets there first.
Unlike Brady, it’s no sure thing that Kraft gets inducted. Kraft is a semifinalist in the coach/contributor category for the second straight season. But there’s no doubt for Brady that a spot in Canton should be reserved for Kraft.
“In my mind, this is a no-brainer,” Brady told MassLive’s Karen Guregian while in Africa on a safari with his daughter, Vivian. “I want this bad for him because he deserves it.”
It wasn’t hard for Brady to make a case for Kraft’s Hall of Fame candidacy. He can point to the six Super Bowl titles the Patriots have won under Kraft’s stewardship, which Brady was a part of as well.
“For me, great teams and great organizations start at the top.”
Tom Brady on Robert Kraft
But to Brady, Kraft’s work on a number of league-wide issues, from the 2011 lockout to overseeing the NFL’s media rights deal, are noteworthy.
“When it comes to the league, nobody, in my opinion, has contributed — since I’ve been in the league — the way he has,” Brady told Guregian. “As an owner on all the important committees, he successfully navigated multiple labor agreements. I know in the 2011 agreement, he was instrumental in the success of it.
“I remember that picture of him and Jeff Saturday, with their arms around each other, bringing everyone back to football, which was great. You can care about that on a team level, but you can also look at that from a league level.”
Brady even went back to what Kraft accomplished before the signal-caller joined the organization to strengthen the owner’s case. Brady brought up Bill Belichick, praising Kraft as a visionary for trading for the all-time head coach prior to the 2000 season.
“He realized how talented of a coach (Belichick) was, and had the foresight and conviction to give up picks … that’s a lot to give up for anyone, but he was so sure that Bill was the right coach, he went for it,” Brady said. “And amongst everything else, that speaks for itself.”
Brady continued to bestow high praise upon Kraft, who awaits the Aug. 15 meeting from the coach/contributor committee as they select one member out of the 12 remaining to be up for consideration for the 2024 Hall of Fame class.
And it’s definitely no secret which way Brady hopes that committee votes when the time comes.
“(Kraft) makes that commitment to be there, and to put the team in the best position to win by allowing our team to use whatever we need to do in terms of what Bill needs to make trades, or to spend salary cap money to build a great roster,” Brady said. “And, six Super Bowls later, that’s kind of unprecedented for any owner.
“In my mind, he does the job. He doesn’t pass the job off to someone else. He takes the job very seriously and does a great job managing the whole organization … he rewards people for success and sets a great culture for an organization. For me, great teams and great organizations start at the top.”