Robert Kraft

rlcarr said:

Can't believe you of all people are giving Kraft credit for that.

The stadium was only not publicly financed because for once in the past 30+ years the MA legislature actually acted sanely and refused to whore themselves out to Kraft.

Also, Kraft was perfectly happy to accept taxpayer-raping proceeds from Hartford.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the team ended up staying in Foxboro and that he decided to go ahead and use his own money after the state showed him the back of the hand. But it's not like he used his own money because he believes public financing of stadiums is wrong. It's because he weighed his options and decided that Foxboro & using his own money was better for him in the long term than somewhere else & taxpayer financing.

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You're right, an owner isn't going to do something out of the good of their heart if it has any impact on the bottom line and I probably am giving Kraft too much credit - I was in my teens when the Hartford and new stadium debates were ongoing so I don't remember a lot of it. But even if the intentions weren't noble, the outcome was good for the public. I'm not certain some of other of Kraft's business ventures have been particularly well thought out (for instance, the outdoor mall in the middle of nowhere in New England, and 10 miles from the Wrentham Outlets, no less) but he can take those risks because he has the Patriots, a veritable money printing machine.

All I want to say regarding this subject is thank you Bob Kraft for being who you are and for giving me an outstanding football team to be a fan of.

I remember in late 70s sittin on those benches in Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium, with fans that were so LIT by half time that they didn't know if they were at a Pats game or watchin Bruins play. MAN have times changed!.....Except for entering & exiting on US1 lol

I've read many posts, blogs, columns and comments regarding Kraft bein cheap and its interesting to see Fans on here who are from NE and have seen Kraft from git'go '90s on keepin Pats in NE I believe from goin to STL and all Kraft has done in NE Community building it up some opposed to him building as well. People just think Kraft has all this money and doesn't want to spend it are oblivious to'da fact.

letekro said:

Not sure what that has to do with what I said, but yes, I am aware of the income inequality issue that has been taken up by all manner of idiots in recent times. My position is simple: people shouldn't be criticized for looking out for their own interests. Why Kraft gets an exemption for that while Revis and other players are raked over the coals I don't fully understand.

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I don't see the hypocrisy (of the fan perspective) that you do.

Owners who work in the short term and go ALL IN (ex: Snyder) get lauded, even though they are being stupid. Guys like Kraft who manage for the long term get accused of being cheap and 'looking out for their own interests'.

Meanwhile, players who go for absolutely every last dollar they can get in an environment where you play in a TEAM SPORT with 53 (51 cap purposes) moving pieces and a finite limit to those $s; means that for guys like Mevis and Pay-me-a-ton .....they are saying screw the team or championships, I want MINE. To me, they are the equivalent of the all-in owners when it comes to short term vs long term and NOT the equivalent of a Kraft 'looking out for his own interests'.

That I think they SHOULD VALUE championships and winning as highly or more than they value the bottom line of their contract is MY VALUE SYSTEM. That doesn't make me a hypocrite, just that I have a different perspective and think Mevis' perspective is wrong. But we're all entitled to an opinion. [Even though yours is wrong ]

Kraft seems like a very decent man (given that we only see the appearances of course).

More to the point, he is a very smart man. I think that he and Belichick see eye to eye on the proposition of value over time, and maximizing your advantages (for example, when you are already in a position to compete it makes a great deal of sense to acquire future value - the pick stockpiling strategy. Because of the ridiculous behavioral economics of the draft, you often get a ton of value just because you can wait a year.)

I'd call Kraft hands-off (except that Troy Brown thing) because in Bill he trusts. When he zeroed in on BB as the "must have" coach I was scratching my head. I was convinced that once Parcells was gone the world had ended. Kraft made a beeline for BB. A BBline if you will. He hung on with tenacity and even forked over draft picks to get Bill done.

All I knew was that BB had taken Cleveland straight to, well, the middle.

Kraft understood that BB understood team building and value. I am not sure that Kraft could evaluate each coach's expertise with Xs and Os, although no doubt he understands resumes and interviews

I've gone so far as to say it's not over when Brady hangs 'em up. It's not over when Belichick hangs up the hoodie. It's over when the Kraft family says it's over. Glad Jonathan's around

Gumby said:

Owners who work in the short term and go ALL IN (ex: Snyder) get lauded, even though they are being stupid. Guys like Kraft who manage for the long term get accused of being cheap and 'looking out for their own interests'. ]

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My point exactly, and all that spending made by Owners (Snyder) doesn't necessarily guarantee a winner but to their fans they do. Some fans have that Fantasy Football mentality where as Kraft, BB use Cap and try to place pieces to puzzle to give us best possible way to win a SB.

Todd Rucci, Max Lane, Drew Bledsoe, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy. Maybe Law was worth his salary.

Mentioning 4 and 6 (Rucci and Lane) should be a bannable offense on this board.

Robert Kraft has built a tremendous organization, business model and brought in the best people to build and run it since he took over. He deserves all the credit in the world for where this organization is today and I am a huge fan, BUT let's not overlook one of the largest reasons he and the Patriots have been so successful to this point and quite frankly were pretty lucky in that regard. Tom Brady.

Joker said:

Mentioning 4 and 6 (Rucci and Lane) should be a bannable offense on this board.

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Had to protect our franchise lol

RayClay said:

Had to protect our franchise lol

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How you doing these days, Joker?

barely drawing breath...but, I can't complain. I want to see another season or two...

Joker said:

barely drawing breath...but, I can't complain. I want to see another season or two...

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It's going to be a massive pass rush team to make up for the secondary, I predict.

They'll sign Mayo and unleash Collins and Hightower and add Easley and the new DE guy,

fair catch fryar said:

Robert Kraft has built a tremendous organization, business model and brought in the best people to build and run it since he took over. He deserves all the credit in the world for where this organization is today and I am a huge fan, BUT let's not overlook one of the largest reasons he and the Patriots have been so successful to this point and quite frankly were pretty lucky in that regard. Tom Brady.

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If it wasn't Brady it would've been someone else. Maybe not quite as stellar, but could even have been Matt Cassell. They would've gotten the best talent available, as always.

primetime said:

Who cares? An owner just owns the team. Root for the players and the coach. Don't make owners into celebrities.

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Sorry but you are just flat out wrong. Some owners screw their teams up. Take Dan Snyder. No, really, please take him. I live in DC and pretty much every Washington fan would rejoice if you, or anyone, who take him out of our FO.

And there are owners who become senile and ruin once proud franchises. Or get into family feuds over trophy wives and turn the team into the centerpiece of a court circus.

Other owners are fans who bought season tickets for years before they were finally able to buy the team, and deserve respect for their stewardship on behalf of other fans.

It's not all about the owner, but it does start at the top, so give them the respect and admiration they earn and deserve. But no more than that, however little it may be.

Do you people understand what a salary cap is? Are you saying he is cheap because he doesn't take up massive parts of the cap with flashy free agents? What is 1 high priced free agent signing that has worked out for an NFL team, Manning I suppose but apart from him who?

PatsFanInVa said:

......
I'd call Kraft hands-off (except that Troy Brown thing) because in Bill he trusts. When he zeroed in on BB as the "must have" coach I was scratching my head. I was convinced that once Parcells was gone the world had ended. Kraft made a beeline for BB. A BBline if you will. He hung on with tenacity and even forked over draft picks to get Bill done.

All I knew was that BB had taken Cleveland straight to, well, the middle.

...:

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That is a meme that the ESPN's have carried on by taking stats (W-Ls) out of context. Whether it is because it is just easier or if there is an anti-BB agenda to it; I couldn't say. But to say that BB led cleveland to the middle is HOGWASH.

He led them in steady upward progress to an 11-5 record with a 1-1 record in the playoffs; ....

AT WHICH POINT his owner created a dysfunctional environment (at some point announced the team was moving) and they played to half-empty stadiums in front of disgruntled fans and with players who had no idea if they would be there the next year or traded etc. and were not motiavted to do crap. Despite all that he held those guys together to get 5 wins. The DOLTS couldnt do that and all they lost was ONE Pay-me-a-ton PLAYER!!!

1991 ... 6-10 ... .375 / 3
1992 ... 7-9 ... .438 / 3
1993 ... 7-9 ... .438 / 3
1994 ... 11-5 ... .688 / 2 [Postseason: 1-1]
1995 ... 5-11 ... .313 / 4

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Yeahhhhhh here's what I remember from the time, Gumby:

He had one decent year... rocketing from 6 wins to 7 wins was not impressive. Call me a casual fan. Maybe you have a better secret decoder ring, or maybe you were following the Browns more closely than me at the time, I dunno. And "despite all that he got 5 wins"... I really didn't understand this as a clear indication of the value of the HC.

Look at the records your posted. That's what I saw. That's what made me scratch my head. I'm feeling pretty justified that I was baffled at the time... all I saw was that BB had some high points with the Gintz and showed some possible promise, bringing Cleveland along to that one playoff year... but certainly it wasn't the kind of performance that made me thing "OMG I don't care what we do to get him just get him."

That's why I'm glad Kraft is Kraft and I'm just lil' ol' me.

n6249c said:

Sorry but you are just flat out wrong. Some owners screw their teams up. Take Dan Snyder. No, really, please take him. I live in DC and pretty much every Washington fan would rejoice if you, or anyone, who take him out of our FO.

And there are owners who become senile and ruin once proud franchises. Or get into family feuds over trophy wives and turn the team into the centerpiece of a court circus.

Other owners are fans who bought season tickets for years before they were finally able to buy the team, and deserve respect for their stewardship on behalf of other fans.

It's not all about the owner, but it does start at the top, so give them the respect and admiration they earn and deserve. But no more than that, however little it may be.

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I'd argue that Dan Snyder, who still prints money hand over foot, is doing just fine. Even if his team is terrible and he's objectively a horrible human being.

I guess you can say about Kraft that he has managed to not screw up having Brady and Belichick for 15 years, which is something.

primetime said:

I'd argue that Dan Snyder, who still prints money hand over foot, is doing just fine. Even if his team is terrible and he's objectively a horrible human being.

I guess you can say about Kraft that he has managed to not screw up having Brady and Belichick for 15 years, which is something.

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How many owners would have allowed BB to keep starting Brady when their franchise QB, who just signed a record-setting contract, was healthy? Kraft is one of the best owners in the league.