It's Obvious That Someone in the NFL is Sabotaging Mr. Kraft's Hall of Fame Candidacy

Elsa. Getty Images.

Sometimes a topic of conversation comes up that doesn't even warrant a discussion. It's a non-starter. Because the answer is so obvious you can't find anyone but the most fringe, contrarian lunatic to offer a differing opinion. Steven Spielberg has made a lot of great movies. The Beatles were popular and influential. Tiger Woods was the best golfer of his generation. Breaking Bad made for some good television. Tom Brady is the best quarterback ever. Elizabeth Hurley has held up well. And so on.

And one of those issues that should not even be up for discussion is that Mr. Kraft deserves to be in the NFL Hall of Fame. His qualifications are such that they don't even need to be spelled out. I've been to Cooperstown a couple of times and it occurred to me that, counter-intuitively, the best players in there have the fewest words on their plaques. The reason being that you don't need to make an argument for why, say, Willie Mays belongs on that wall. But a Bert Blyleven requires a long explanation. Mr. Kraft doesn't. Because here is all you need to know:

--He saved the Patriots from moving to St. Louis.

--He built a stadium with his own money.

--On his watch, they've been to 10 Super Bowls.

--They've won six Super Bowls.

--They've had the best winning percentage in all of North American sports.

You can go deeper, like how he was credited with settling the 2011 labor dispute so that the league only lost one preseason game, while his wife was in hospice, or all the TV contracts he negotiated and the charitable endeavors he's undertaken. But those bullet points alone are resume' enough. 

But still there's this:

ESPN - Robert Kraft, the six-time Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots owner considered a favorite for the 2025 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has been passed over again by the Hall's contributor committee, sources told ESPN.

Instead, the nine-member committee, which each year advances one name for consideration by all 50 Hall voters, chose Ralph Hay, a co-founder of the National Football League and the owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 to 1922, five sources with knowledge of the decision told ESPN this week.

The contributor committee's decision was made Nov. 12 and is expected to be announced by the Hall of Fame next month. Hay, along with one coaching candidate and three candidates from an earlier NFL era whose names still have not been revealed, will be considered by the full selection committee for the Hall in January 2025.

In my opinion, the key to understanding why this has been playing out the way it has since RKK (I have permission to speak of my close personal friend in this way, but don't you be getting familiar, understand?) first became eligible is in those second and third paragraphs. 

So Ralph Hay is in, huh? FINALLY. I mean for how long has the football-loving public been demanding this injustice be undone? The millions of Hay fans across the country who've been buying up all the Canton Bulldogs merchandise will never forget his legendary four-year reign right after WWI. And now they get to sleep peacefully knowing the wrong done to their guy has been righted. 

Next, this explains everything: "… who's names still have not been revealed." No less than "five sources with knowledge of the decision" went straight to America's favorite football reporter/satisfier of women to make sure the news got out that our long, national Ralph Hays nightmare was finally over, but can't say who else is still on the ballot. That's not a coincidence. That's a coordinated effort, plain and simple. 

There's only one reason an announcement like this is fed to the go-to reporter for all NFL news. And that is to hurt Mr. Kraft. This is weaponized information. A blatant leak, timed to get out well before the holiday week to do maximum harm. The cable sports shows are already feeding off it. Boston talk radio will dine out on it the rest of the week, and beyond. Though there's no one voice among them who can truthfully say they've ever heard of Ralph Hays or think Mr. Kraft isn't Canton-Worthy. They'll still be useful idiots to whomever is masterminding all this. 

And therein lies the big question. Who could be behind it? As with any mystery, it comes down to motive, means and opportunity. Motive is easy. You don't get to be as successful as RKK is without making enemies. Even as you've made them all rich with your negotiation skills, no one wants to be made to look bad because your franchise has been doing all the winning. 

As far as means and opportunity, those would have to be someone with a lot of juice in the NFL. Someone with power and influence who makes their own rules. In the words of Steely Dan, "Lays down the law and breaks it." That could be the Commissioner. It could be one of his deputies. But to me the prime suspects are all other owners who resent the fact the Krafts have made them all look like imbeciles by comparison. And will stop at nothing to try and embarrass the visionary mogul who built an empire and has put them to shame for the past 30 years. 

Advertisement

That narrows the list to 31 suspects. But I have one Person of Interest who stands creepy head and slimy shoulders above them all:

Maddie Malhotra. Getty Images.

Absurdly, Jerry Jones is already in the Hall of Fame. On that basis alone, I wouldn't want to be in there if I was Mr. Kraft. I'd just forget the whole thing, go back to my office, lay down on a bed of my Lombardi Trophies, and dream sweet dreams of my future success with Drake Maye at quarterback.