Kraft proud of his team's conduct, legacy

[SVN]

NFL.com news: Patriots owner Kraft proud of his team's conduct, legacy


iam getting nervous as the game gets closer. Can we play already ?

 

[jmt57]

Pats owner Kraft builds steady, successful team | ajc.com | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A lot of good stuff in this article.

Kraft occasionally strolls through the locker room talking with players. He chats with employees such as those who do laundry and cleaning for the team. He and his wife Myra recently announced a $20 million gift to attract medical personnel to work in community health centers in Massachusetts.

"I love this country," Kraft said Thursday. "I worry when we have unemployment like we have, the social impact of that, and so we try to create a system in medical treatment that would go into the inner city and allow people of all backgrounds to get the same treatment my family could get."

At 4:30 p.m. Sunday, their next playoff game will start. Some three hours later, Kraft will either have another home playoff game to watch or the unenviable duty of patting disappointed players on the back.

"I'm always a little uneasy," he said.

Whatever happens, the Patriots should be contenders for a long time. Young players are making major contributions and Tom Brady has a $72 million, four-year contract extension that starts next season.

He'll be 37 by the time it expires and said before the deal was made that he wants to play 10 more seasons.

The contract agreed upon three days before the season opener was "one of the great strategic things we did," Kraft said. "I wonder if Tommy would have had the year he had if we hadn't taken the contract (issue) away and put it to bed. ... I think that was a real big move in giving him peace of mind."

Brady had one of his best seasons, perhaps surpassing his 50 touchdown passes with just eight interceptions in 2007 when the Patriots went 18-0 before losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 17-14.

He is a favorite to win his second regular-season MVP award after throwing 36 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

"It's a tremendous amount of money," Kraft said, "but he, obviously, is worth it."

"People at the league office, people in this town, sent me tapes of (Belichick) in Cleveland and said, 'you don't want to hire this guy.' And, remember, he went 5-11 (his first season) and we gave up a number one draft choice," Kraft said. "People thought we were nuts. So I think that probably was one of the best decisions I've made in football."

I knew about Cleveland sports writers making unsolicited phone calls to Boston sports writers with negative comments about Belichick when news broke that Kraft might hire him as head coach - if I'm not mistaken it is documented in Holley's Patriot Reign - but that's the first that I recall reading that people in the NFL league office tried to convince Kraft not to hire Belichick.

Hmm, I wonder who it could have been ...

 

[SVN]

"He was this skinny beanpole," Kraft said. "I always tell the story how he came down the steps at the old Foxboro Stadium. I'm going out one night and ... he had a pizza under his arm and he comes up and he says, 'Mr. Kraft, I'm Tom Brady

guy has come a long way through a lot of hard work...most people think he was just lucky..

 

[Kontradiction]

Don't get too proud, Bobby. Pride comes before the fall.

 

[naF staP]

I was in San Francisco a couple years ago watching the Patriots vs 49'ers game and there is Mr. Kraft walking around saying hello to everyone and thanking the Pats fans for showing up to the game. My son got his autograph, LOL!

Thought that was pretty cool of him to be walking around the stadium before the game at the home of the 49ers.