Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not be elected to the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, according to multiple reports.
Sources familiar with the recent decision by the nine-member Hall of Fame (HOF) committee told ESPN i The New York Times that Kraft, 83, was dropped — for the 13th time — in favor of Ralph Hay.
Hay, who died in 1944, co-founded the NFL and owned the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 to 1922.
One source told ESPN that the board’s decision to select Hay over Kraft was “a big surprise” and “very disappointing.” The source added, “Unless you’re an NFL historian, you don’t know who Ralph Hay is.”
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Another insider close to the situation noted that Hay was heavily criticized for not wanting to pay players during his time in the league. “Hay didn’t believe players should be paid. He sold the team after just four years,” a source told ESPN, adding, “I don’t know how he’s considered more deserving than Bob Kraft.”
Robert Kraft holds the 2017 Super Bowl LI Trophy in Houston, Texas. Kevin Mazur/WireImage
In a statement to ESPN on Nov. 21, the HOF said the finalists for the Class of 2025 will be “announced jointly in early December, after all committees have held their selection meetings.”
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The selection process for the HOF begins with a nomination by a nine-member contributing committee. After the appointment, a group of 50 voters choose the future inductees.
But Kraft’s name — he’s owned the Patriots since 1994 and won six Super Bowl championships with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady — never advanced past the 50-voter contribution committee.
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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (C) poses for a photo with Tom Brady during a ceremony Monday, June 9, 2014. Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty
Some fans theorize that Kraft was kicked out of the HOF because of his previous scandals.
In 2007, Kraft and the Patriots were fined when it was discovered that the organization had been recording signals from opposing coaches during games under head coach Bill Belichick.
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In 2015, the scandal dubbed “Deflategate” tarnished the Patriots’ reputation when Brady was suspended by the league for four games in 2016 after it was discovered that footballs in the AFC Championship game were underinflated.
In 2019, he was accused of soliciting sex workers at a Florida spa, and the charges were later dropped. According to ESPN, one voter on the Hall’s committee said, “We probably need to put a little distance between the massage parlor and the Hall of Fame.”
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