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New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft was left on the outside of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 with Bill Belichick, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
Kraft was in the same category with Belichick, Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and LC Greenwood. Pro Football Hall of Famers were tasked with selecting three of the five from the group, and it appeared the two architects of the Patriots’ six Super Bowl titles won’t be inducted in Canton this time around.
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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft during opening night of Super Bowl LX at the San Jose Convention Center on February 2, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
The 84-year-old billionaire had been a Patriots season ticket holder since the 1970s and was finally able to buy the team in 1994. Bill Parcells was the team’s head coach when he took over, and Pete Carroll was at the helm for three seasons before Belichick joined the team.
With Belichick, the Patriots had the most success. He made the decision to insert Tom Brady into a game for an injured Drew Bledsoe, and really, the rest was history. The Kraft-Belichick-Brady era saw the Patriots win six Super Bowl titles. Kraft’s tenure now has the Patriots headed for a seventh Super Bowl championship against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
But just like with the Belichick snub, NFL fans were just as confused that Kraft was also left off the ballot.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft speaks to the crowd Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, during a Patriots NFL football Send Off rally in Foxborough, Mass., for Super Bowl LX. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
BILL BELICHICK’S HALL OF FAME SNUB IS “ASININ,” SAYS ROB GRONKOWSKI
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday expressed support for Belichick and Kraft’s Hall of Fame status while maintaining that the league had nothing to do with the voting process.
“Bill Belichick’s record speaks for itself — the same with the Patriots and Robert Kraft, who is also a contender,” he said at a news conference before Super Bowl LX. “They are spectacular. They have contributed a lot to this game and I believe they will be Hall of Famers.”
As fate would have it, just not this week.
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick announces his departure from the team during a press conference at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Jan. 11, 2024. Belichick, the NFL champion who guided the New England Patriots to a record six Super Bowl titles as head coach, is parting ways with the team after 24 seasons. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP)
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be revealed later this week.
