New England Patriots owner and Trump ally Robert Kraft has been passed over by the Pro Football Hall of Fame—just days after another Trump supporter, longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick, was also snubbed.
Kraft did not receive enough votes to qualify for the Class of 2026, sources told ESPN. The final nominees will be announced on Thursday.
This was the first year that Kraft advanced to become a finalist, despite being nominated since the Class of 2013.
The Hall of Fame’s new voting rules had created a showdown between Kraft and Belichick. Kraft was a finalist in the contributor category, while Belichick was a coaching finalist, and the players up for consideration were Roger Craig, Ken Anderson, and L.C. Greenwood.
Fifty voters each select three finalists, and any candidate receiving at least 40 votes is inducted. If no one reaches that threshold, the top vote-getter wins. A recent change also made coaches eligible for induction just one year after retiring instead of five. Between one and three of these historic-era finalists will join three to five modern-era players from a separate 15-person ballot.
ESPN reported last week that Belichick fell short of the 40 votes needed this year, sparking outrage from Trump.
“It is the same mindset that gave pro football the new and unwatchable ‘Sissy’ Kickoff Rule, that made it possible for Bill Belichick to not be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” he fumed on Truth Social. “Both are ridiculous and should be overturned!”
Belichick has previously been a supporter of Trump, writing him a letter during his 2016 election campaign, which Trump later read on stage, the New York Post reported.
Trump and Kraft’s relationship is also well documented, with the pair having been friends for decades. Earlier this month, he made a surprise appearance with the president at the Kennedy Center in Washington for a special screening of the new Melania Trump documentary, “Melania.”
Kraft also donated to Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
Earlier this week, Trump said, “Bob Kraft is a friend of mine” and called the Patriots a “great team.” That came after Kraft said in late 2024 that he and the president were not on speaking terms anymore following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, saying that day “upset” him.
