SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Patriots went 0-for-2 this year at sending key members of their two-decade run atop the NFL into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Longtime owner Robert Kraft, 84, will not be selected for entry in the 2026 Hall of Fame class, a league source confirmed Tuesday.
The news about Kraft came a week after it was reported that Bill Belichick, the coach who led the team to its six Super Bowl victories, was not elected to the Hall in his first year of eligibility. The full class will be unveiled on Thursday at the NFL Honors show.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame changed its rules this year, which made it more difficult for candidates to be enshrined. There are 50 Hall of Fame voters, each of whom casts three votes among the five candidates; a candidate must receive at least 40 votes to gain entry.
Kraft was a finalist via the contributor committee. Belichick was a finalist via the coach committee. Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood were finalists via the senior committee. With neither Belichick nor Kraft reaching the required number of votes, one of Craig, Anderson and Greenwood will reach Canton, Ohio, this year.
Kraft bolstered an already impressive resume this season by overseeing the Patriots’ turnaround after firing former head coach Jerod Mayo, Kraft’s hand-picked successor to Belichick, and hiring Mike Vrabel. Kraft has now been to the Super Bowl with three head coaches — Bill Parcells, Belichick and Vrabel.
Kraft purchased the Patriots in 1994 after pulling off a shrewd business move to own the land the team played on, helping ensure that the Patriots stayed in New England, which was important to the Brookline, Mass., native who had been a season-ticket holder. He has owned the franchise for all six of its Super Bowl wins.
Kraft privately financed Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002, and is the only NFL owner who offers free parking at games.
Perhaps more importantly to the league at large, Kraft has been instrumental in the NFL’s lucrative TV deals. He has chaired the league’s media committee for more than a decade, and he helped secure an 11-year broadcast-rights deal worth $113 billion in 2021.
Although Kraft and Belichick have been shut out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, both are expected to be enshrined eventually. Tom Brady will be first eligible for enshrinement in 2028.
“Bill Belichick’s record goes without saying,” commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday, while noting the league has nothing to do with the Hall’s voting process. “Same with the Patriots’ Robert Kraft, who is also a candidate. They are spectacular. They contribute so much to this game. And I believe they’ll be Hall of Famers.”
