Celebrating 16 Years of Superb Ownership today - Thank You Mr. Kraft

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

16 Years ago today....February 25th,1994 was the date that a man named Robert Kraft dished out his bid to buy the New England Patriots which at the time was a regular AFC East celler dweller,almost laughable franchise and almost annually was at the bottom of the league.

16 Years and 3 Super Bowl trophies later, we can say Thank You Robert for saving us from all those horrid years before you arrived and those bad times as Pats fans that we can now look back at and laugh about and for hiring Bill Belichick who was not only a smart judge of talent upon arrival but an excellent smart coach and for adding Scott Pioli the same year in 2000 to which both men formed the best one two punch of all F.O. managements in the league at that time and the foundation for success and few knew it was the soon to be team of the decade as they began to form in 2000.

Nowadays we hear from former players of how cheap Kraft is and on and on and negative spew from the media but those very same players forget who signed them to begin with and who paid them and who was responsible for getting a team together good enough to have most of those whining former players get a ring back then and who knows how his effect as a supreme owner had on some of these local media members careers who now bash him.

Its been 16 Years marked today for a team who was from the outhouse of the league to the penthouse years later and the glory of our happiness as Pats fans over the past 16 years goes to no one other than a guy who 16 years ago made that step to keep the Patriots in New England and away from St. Louis.

Happy Anniversary to the man who made the best purchase anyone of us fans has ever seen,the man that brought smiles back to Foxboro,the man who made changes to a winning tradition that we all now seem to be spolied of...That man is Mr. Robert Kraft.

 

[PatsFanDan]

The week prior to the purchase, I recall attending my first ever Celtics game at the old garden. It was against the Golden State Warriors and the C's ended up winning but something else really interesting happened at the garden that night.

I like everyone else had heard all of the rumors about the potential for the Pats to be sold and moved out of state (St Louis?). Well little did I know that the guy sitting literally 2 seats directly behind me was the man in the process of buying the Pats franchise and with every intention of keeping them in NE.

So the garden PA guy made an announcement that Kraft was in attendance and there he was up on the jumbotron. He received the standing ovation of a lifetime that night and in hindsight, it was well deserved. Who knew.

 

[DarrylS]

Thank you Mr. Kraft.. you have made my life a whole lot different, probably better.

 

[Willie55]

Thank you Bob Kraft. IIRC He payed somewhere in the area of 180 million dollars for the team and many people said he over payed. Turns out they were wrong. It's been quite an investment.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

While it didn't work out with Parcells in the long run who wanted to shop for the groceries,Initially hiring Bill helped instill some confidence and some clever smarts into the coaching of this team and some of those players like Troy Brown and Drew Bledsoe could credit some of thier early learning and maturing into the pro game to Parcells guidance and of course the defense began its journey out of the depths of patheticness as well.

While the hiring of Pete Carroll was one of Kraft's few mistakes as boss,he knew the right time to let Pete go after seeing a dropoff of what Parcells started to bid and eventually persuaded Belichick to come here after 1 day as Jets coach.

 

[BPF]

I posted this yesterday.

Pre Kraft ownership: 6 playoff appereances, 0-1 in SB in 34 yrs.

Kraft era: 10 playoff appereances, 3-2 in SB in 15 yrs.

Thanks to the Kraft family for building a team we can all be proud of.

 

[Kontradiction]

A big thank you to Mr. Kraft for turning this franchise around into a perennial powerhouse.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Much happiness. :rocker:

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Thanks Mr Kraft... for all you have done for us Pats fans in 16 years..

 

[Gwedd]

Agreed! Thank you, Mr. Kraft, for believing in the team in the same way that we fans believed in them. It's been a GREAT ride, and it isn't over yet.

Respects,

 

[Tunescribe]

I met Bob Kraft once by chance in the old Foxboro Stadium pro shop. I shook his hand and introduced myself as a season ticket holder. He graciously thanked me.

It's good to take stock of what his ownership has brought us -- three Lombardis, a new stadium, and above all, BB.

 

[Patjew]

Bob Kraft, the best of all Pats fans.

 

[JerseyPatriot76]

Well said. It has been a pretty sweet 16 years. Only two losing seasons.

We are all still Patriots, and thanks to Mr. Kraft there is a special sense of pride to be a Patriot fan.

Thanks to the Kraft family and the players for making that 4-hour trip to and from Foxborough, a whole lot happier.

 

[signbabybrady]

Thank You Very Much Mr. Kraft.

This is one of the most successful 16 years in NFL history and it has been so much fun to be a part of.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Think about it. We have the Team of the Decade, and model franchise! We have a state of the art stadium, and 21st Century surrounding mall. I went to alot more games when the stadium was empty, tickets were cheap, and the aluminum seats were cold, as I live out of state now, but damn it's great to be the fan of a winner like this.

Thank you Mr. Kraft. We need to win the Super Bowl again this year, so if you could please make that happen, we'd appreciate it. I get first dibs on two Super Bowl tickets.

P.S. - I've met Mr. Kraft twice, and concur that he is the definition of CLASS!

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Bob Kraft, great guy, great fan. Great owner.
Thanks for saving the franchise!

 

[Mike the Brit]

Bob Kraft, great guy, great fan. Great owner.
Thanks for saving the franchise!

:yeahthat:

Passionate fan, smart businessman, but -- above all, as is constantly evident -- a very honourable and decent person. We are very, very lucky to have you as owner, Mr Kraft.

 

[n1patsfan]

Thank you Mr. Kraft!! Your the best, you saved our team.

 

[HarkDawg]

Robert Kraft... you are the man.


your $$$ and devotion has paid dividends in creating a Premier Franchise of the NFL. Thank you for the betterment of the Patriot Franchise and getting them on top!


Dynasty's never die because their legacy will always remain.

-Thank you, Mr. Kraft