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As difficult as it may be to believe now, the New England Patriots were a laughingstock in the not-so-distant past.
They had their moments of success, like a run to the Super Bowl at the end of the 1985 season, but before 1994, they had suffered through five consecutive losing seasons, played in a dilapidated stadium nearly 30 miles from Boston and were on the verge of moving to St. Louis.
When Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994, though, the franchise’s trajectory changed, helping turn New England into one of the NFL’s most historically decorated franchises over the following 30 years.
'MIKE WAS DIFFERENT': Mike Vrabel's Super Bowl run foreseen by teammates
While Kraft never played a snap or called a play during the Patriots’ dynastic run of six Super Bowl championships from 2001-18, he owned the team throughout that time, helping make the legendary careers of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick possible.
Now, six years after Brady played his last down for the Patriots and Belichick last roamed the sideline in New England, Kraft’s team finds itself back on the biggest stage in the sport, with a matchup looming against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
As coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye’s team prepares to try to win the Patriots their seventh Super Bowl, here’s a closer look at Kraft:
Kraft has been the Patriots’ owner for each of the franchise’s six Super Bowl wins, which came during a 17-year stretch from 2001-18. That run started only seven years after he bought the team, when a little-known sixth-round pick named Tom Brady took over as the team’s quarterback.
In 1994, Kraft acquired the Patriots. By the end of the 1996 season, the Patriots were in just their second-ever Super Bowl, where they fell to the Green Bay Packers. Only two years later, Kraft considered moving the team to Hartford, Connecticut, which was offering to finance a deal to build a new stadium (and given Connecticut’s place in the country, the franchise wouldn’t have even had to change its name). The deal ultimately fell through when Kraft decided to build a new stadium, what’s now known as Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
SEAHAWKS OR PATRIOTS? Super Bowl 60 picks straight up and against spread
Alas, despite his last name and a fortune that would make it possible for him to oversee a dairy empire, Kraft does not own the Kraft Foods Group.
Rather, Kraft is the chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, a collection of privately held companies with assets in manufacturing, real estate development and, of course, professional sports. The group was founded in 1998.
Kraft had previously made his money through the Rand-Whitney Group, a packaging company, and International Forest Products, a paper-trading company.
In addition to the Patriots, Kraft also owns the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. The Revolution also plays their games at Gillette Stadium, though they recently revealed plans for a 24,000-seat stadium along the Mystic River in Everett, Massachusetts.
Despite the overwhelming success of the franchise he has overseen for the past three decades, Kraft is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and did not receive a large enough share of the vote from the 50-person selection committee to earn enshrinement in 2026.
This year marked the first time Kraft had been a finalist for the Hall of Fame.
"What matters to me is we win Sunday," Kraft said this week on CNBC's "Squawk Box.” "That's a function of how the team we're invested in and organize (is judged)."
Kraft has a net worth of $13.8 billion, according to Forbes. That figure makes him the 206th richest person in the world.
Born on June 5, 1941, Kraft is 84 years old.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patriots owner Robert Kraft age, net worth, Kraft Foods ties
Continue reading...
They had their moments of success, like a run to the Super Bowl at the end of the 1985 season, but before 1994, they had suffered through five consecutive losing seasons, played in a dilapidated stadium nearly 30 miles from Boston and were on the verge of moving to St. Louis.
When Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994, though, the franchise’s trajectory changed, helping turn New England into one of the NFL’s most historically decorated franchises over the following 30 years.
'MIKE WAS DIFFERENT': Mike Vrabel's Super Bowl run foreseen by teammates
While Kraft never played a snap or called a play during the Patriots’ dynastic run of six Super Bowl championships from 2001-18, he owned the team throughout that time, helping make the legendary careers of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick possible.
Now, six years after Brady played his last down for the Patriots and Belichick last roamed the sideline in New England, Kraft’s team finds itself back on the biggest stage in the sport, with a matchup looming against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
As coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye’s team prepares to try to win the Patriots their seventh Super Bowl, here’s a closer look at Kraft:
Robert Kraft Super Bowl
Kraft has been the Patriots’ owner for each of the franchise’s six Super Bowl wins, which came during a 17-year stretch from 2001-18. That run started only seven years after he bought the team, when a little-known sixth-round pick named Tom Brady took over as the team’s quarterback.
In 1994, Kraft acquired the Patriots. By the end of the 1996 season, the Patriots were in just their second-ever Super Bowl, where they fell to the Green Bay Packers. Only two years later, Kraft considered moving the team to Hartford, Connecticut, which was offering to finance a deal to build a new stadium (and given Connecticut’s place in the country, the franchise wouldn’t have even had to change its name). The deal ultimately fell through when Kraft decided to build a new stadium, what’s now known as Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
SEAHAWKS OR PATRIOTS? Super Bowl 60 picks straight up and against spread
Does Robert Kraft own Kraft cheese?
Alas, despite his last name and a fortune that would make it possible for him to oversee a dairy empire, Kraft does not own the Kraft Foods Group.
Rather, Kraft is the chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, a collection of privately held companies with assets in manufacturing, real estate development and, of course, professional sports. The group was founded in 1998.
Kraft had previously made his money through the Rand-Whitney Group, a packaging company, and International Forest Products, a paper-trading company.
In addition to the Patriots, Kraft also owns the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. The Revolution also plays their games at Gillette Stadium, though they recently revealed plans for a 24,000-seat stadium along the Mystic River in Everett, Massachusetts.
Robert Kraft Hall of Fame
Despite the overwhelming success of the franchise he has overseen for the past three decades, Kraft is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and did not receive a large enough share of the vote from the 50-person selection committee to earn enshrinement in 2026.
This year marked the first time Kraft had been a finalist for the Hall of Fame.
"What matters to me is we win Sunday," Kraft said this week on CNBC's "Squawk Box.” "That's a function of how the team we're invested in and organize (is judged)."
Robert Kraft net worth
Kraft has a net worth of $13.8 billion, according to Forbes. That figure makes him the 206th richest person in the world.
Robert Kraft age
Born on June 5, 1941, Kraft is 84 years old.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patriots owner Robert Kraft age, net worth, Kraft Foods ties
Continue reading...
