NFL teams
Greg Garber, Senior Writer 9y

Pats' success unmatched under Kraft

NFL, New England Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Robert Kraft is angry.

He strides across his spacious but sparsely appointed office in Gillette Stadium that overlooks snow-covered trees lining the edge of a land parcel he bought 30 years ago, pale blue eyes flashing fiercely, offering a range of highly uncomplimentary observations about the people telling him he can't do this thing he wants to do. Phone calls will be made. Heads, presumably, will roll.

"We need to do this," he says to his oldest son, Jonathan, shaking his head, "because it feels right."

He's wearing jeans, a light-blue Nike zipper top and a pair of custom-made black Nike Air Force 1 sneakers -- and it's impossible not to believe in his conviction.

Not surprisingly, Kraft gets his way in this particular matter of business, deftly removing any obstacles that defy his instincts.

That was late last week, a long one at the offices of The Kraft Group as the family grappled with the profound issues of underinflated footballs and tainted legacies. Kraft is 73, but he's still fully capable of getting his way, which of course he eventually did. He's built a handful of empires -- in paper, real estate, finance, media, oh, and a nifty little NFL franchise -- and is reported to be worth more than $4 billion.

When something feels right, he does it.

"There have been a lot of times when we're looking to do something, and the analysis of the data will say one thing and my father's gut will say something else," said Jonathan, president of The Kraft Group and the New England Patriots. "And I'm done from ever trying to persuade him otherwise. When his gut instinct is strong, you just defer to him because he's always right."

One of the few times Jonathan saw his father go against that instinct was after the 1996 season. In five tumultuous years, head coach Bill Parcells had brought the Krafts their first Super Bowl berth, but when he bolted to the New York Jets, Robert was convinced they should promote Parcells' defensive backs coach, Bill Belichick, who in only nine months had impressed him with his knowledge of personnel, scheme and a rare ability to teach.

But Belichick was perceived to be too connected to Parcells, and the Krafts decided to clean house and make a fresh start with Pete Carroll. The Jets were forced to give the Patriots four draft choices, including a first-rounder, when Belichick followed Parcells to New York. Three years later, Kraft reciprocated by parting with a first-round pick to secure the services of Belichick as his head coach.

Today, Kraft is widely viewed as one the most successful owners in professional sports.

"It's unbelievable to me the consistency they've had," said Giants owner John Mara, whose team beat New England the last two times the Patriots have played in the Super Bowl. "They're in a league by themselves, and a lot of that starts with the owner. Obviously, they have a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback, but I think they have a Hall of Fame owner, too."

The bottom-line numbers are almost surreal. This is Kraft's 21st season as owner and he's been to 10 conference championship games. Put another way, almost every other year his Patriots have made the final four in an uber-competitive league of 32 teams. He's 7-for-21 in reaching the Super Bowl, a .333 average Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz would relish.

Kraft, standing in the inner sanctum of the quarterback film room at Gillette, smiled when that number came up.

"Not too bad," he said. "A lot of that is how many quality people we've had come through our system. I'm very proud of that."

What can you do with it?

That pride -- and the legacy he and the Patriots have labored to craft over two decades -- has been under scrutiny since it was discovered that 11 of  the team's 12 game balls were underinflated during the 45-7 throttling of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game.

After an internal investigation and intense internal debate, a familiar strategy surfaced: The Patriots turned to offense. When the team arrived Monday in Phoenix, Kraft aggressively demanded an apology from the league if its investigation did not find the Patriots culpable.

"I want to make it clear that I believe unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate in this process or in violation of NFL rules," Kraft said, reading from a prepared statement.

"Bill, Tom [Brady] and I have had many difficult discussions over the years, and I have never known them to lie to me. It bothers me greatly that their reputations and integrity, and by association that of our team, has been called into question this past week."

Of course, Kraft's personal reputation and integrity also might well be hanging in the balance of the NFL's investigation.

It's not the first time he's been doubted.

Several weeks ago, he offered what was essentially a nearly hour-long stream-of-consciousness monologue about his life, beginning in a modest apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts, and ending with Patriots' quest for yet another Super Bowl. He was cruising the Caribbean on a 500-foot yacht -- one of the largest in the world -- owned by one of his good buddies, with an astonishing crew/passenger ratio of 10 to 1.

"I was always passionate about the idea of owning the Patriots," Kraft said. "I sat in Section 217 on the old metal benches in Foxboro Stadium. In 1985, I paid an option on the land around the stadium, more than it was probably worth. I outbid Victor Kiam for the rights to the stadium in 1988, and six years later, I made James Orthwein an offer [$172 million] for the team. He accepted."

That probably was the shrewdest business decision he's ever made, the one that ultimately delivered him the Patriots franchise.

Or was it Kraft who delivered a habitually downtrodden football team?

"Now, the question becomes, what can you do with it?" he said. "In all of our businesses, we have the same goal: How can you create a culture where people want to be with you? How do you attract quality people and develop continuity?"

It wasn't as easy as those two paragraphs suggest, however.

There was a lot of maneuvering, muscling, vision and political calculation. One of the critical pieces was the courting of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1999. Stymied by the Massachusetts legislature in his drive for a new stadium, Kraft turned to his neighbor to the southwest.

In retrospect, it would seem logical for the spurned Connecticut participants in the negotiations to say Kraft merely was looking for leverage. Tom Ritter, who was then the state's Democratic Speaker of the House, begs to differ.

"I'm in the minority on this," Ritter said earlier this week. "I met with the Krafts many times. Unless he's a very good actor, I thought Robert was very honorable and above board. I do remember that one of the preconditions of negotiation was a low-interest state loan for a manufacturing facility they had in Montville. That was shrewd."

In the end, Republican Governor John Rowland cooled on the deal, and the Massachusetts legislature came up with funds for infrastructure, although Kraft privately financed Gillette Stadium.

"In all candor, I think it was the governor who blew it," said Ritter, who practices law in Hartford. "The people who say that Kraft was disingenuous are the ones really at fault."

The Pats' Week 16 victory over the Jets gave Kraft his 250th win as an owner, which tied him with the Bears' legendary George Halas as the fastest owner to 250.

Kraft, paying respect to Halas, said he was happy to be joining one of the great founders of the game. His son went further.

"I'll say it," Jonathan said. "George Halas is the grandfather, one of the great pillars of this league, and it wouldn't exist without him. But I think comparing statistics from his era and this era are just so different. There are 32 teams in the league, and with the salary cap and free agency I would respectfully argue that it is a greater accomplishment today than it was then."

The cult of celebrity

Eight years after Kraft bought the Patriots, in 2002, Wyc Grousbeck headed a group that purchased the Boston Celtics for a then-NBA record $360 million.

The Celtics had a lustrous history but had fallen on hard times. Kraft signed off on a dual-team ticket promotion designed to help the Celtics increase sales.

"Out of the goodness of their hearts, they did that," Grousbeck said. "They didn't have to. I'll always be grateful for that. That's the generosity of spirit he and his family have."

Six years later, after the Patriots had won three Super Bowls in the new millennium, the Celtics won their 17th NBA title. Was it a coincidence that the Red Sox (three championships) and the NHL's Boston Bruins (one) also were the best in their respective sports after Kraft and the Patriots broke through?

"The Patriots are a model franchise, a great example," said Grousbeck, who has known Kraft for more than 15 years. "I see him hiring the best people and empowering them. I see him demanding high standards and holding them to it.

"The Kraft family says what they're going to do -- and then they go and do it. And they do it better than you think they could. He has the respect of every one of his peers."

One thing Kraft's friends and family confirm: He really enjoys being Robert Kraft. Even among rock stars, Kraft is, well, a rock star.

"It's unreal, I mean, it's the perfect spot in the house, so you can't believe that you're actually up there," Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler told ESPN for a story on the game-day scene in Kraft's luxury box at Gillette Stadium.

Even the rich and famous seem somewhat awed by Kraft.

"It's always an honor to be invited by Bob to watch the game," entrepreneur Donald Trump said. "I've watched so many games in that box with Bob -- and every time they've won, so he likes me being there. I love winners."

Actor Mark Wahlberg said he has received valuable advice from Kraft, both personally and professionally.

"I mean there isn't anything I can't talk to him about," Wahlberg said. "And you know, he's opened up to me about things and shared experiences with me that will help me grow and help me be a better person, a better father, a better son. He's really an amazing guy."

Grousbeck attended Robert and Myra Kraft's 40th anniversary celebration in 2003. The entertainer was Elton John.

"It was under a tent at Gillette, and you might have thought it would be a glitzy affair," Grousbeck said. "Tom and Gisele [Bundchen] were there, so were [Jon] Bon Jovi and Sir Elton. Even though his friends are famous, it wasn't a show.

"It was an intimate show of love."

John Henry led a group that purchased the Red Sox in 2002 and two years later ended an 86-year championship drought, winning the World Series. Since then, his team has won two more (2007, 2013) and equaled the Patriots' three post-millennial championships.

"Robert, privately, is an exceedingly warm, unique individual," Henry wrote in an email Thursday. "We have a very close relationship even though we are both incredibly competitive. It's rare to find two people at our level in different pro organizations in the same city who have such a close relationship. We support each other in any way we can behind the scenes.

"There is no better organization in sports; no more effective family business in any industry."

Another of Kraft's high-profile friends is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He attended a party at Kraft's sprawling Chestnut Hill home before the AFC Championship Game, prompting Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman to say there was a "conflict of interest," regarding Goodell's ability to appropriately punish the Patriots if they are found to be guilty of deflating footballs in the AFC title game.

"Not at all," the Giants' Mara said. "That's complete nonsense. There's such a rush to judgment. People want blood, and they want it now. As someone who has worked with both of them, I have no doubt the commissioner, after the investigation, will make the correct determination."

Kraft said that after the death of his wife, Myra in the summer of 2011, he offered his services to Goodell. He was having difficulty sleeping and thought working more on league matters might provide a helpful distraction. It did, and his friendship with the commissioner deepened.

"A lot of people in this business try to do what's best for the team," Kraft said. "Everybody in this world is about me and the short term. I've tried to be there for Roger as a long-term strategic thinker. I like and respect him. I love the league.

"If anything, I think we get treated worse -- it happened in one previous [the 2007 Spygate] situation."

An (almost) perfect life

In recent years, particularly after Myra lost her battle with cancer, Kraft has left most of the day-to-day operations to his sons, Jonathan and Daniel. The family estimates about half of Robert's time is consumed by his work with the NFL; he serves on five league committees, including broadcasting (he's the chairman), finance and labor.

"There is no owner I respect more in this league than Robert Kraft," said Mara, who chairs the labor committee. "He was instrumental in getting the 2011 collective bargaining agreement done. When Myra was dying, he was shuttling back and forth during negotiations -- at her insistence. I saw firsthand what a smart businessman he was, and a compassionate human being, too."

What Kraft enjoys most are his philanthropic work (his family said he's donated more than $250 million to charity) and being around the Patriots.

"I think he's very comfortable with who he is," Jonathan said, sipping a bottle of sparkling water in the office adjacent to his father's. "Other than the loss of my mother, I think he's been able to control and build a life professionally and personally that in his mind would be the perfect life."

Other than the loss of Myra.

For the last two years of her life, Myra exhausted every possibility that would keep her alive, such as experimental drugs and treatments. For her last five months, the only time he left her bedside (at her insistence) for significant time was during the labor negotiations.

"And for the first six months after my mom passed away," Jonathan said, voice cracking, "I was very worried that my father was not going to survive. He was emotionally caught up in the loss and was really starting to become a different person. No energy, no drive ... she was the love of his life and he missed her dearly.

"He and I had talks which weren't easy about how he had to snap out of it because he wasn't going to live. And that wasn't my preference. And I don't believe it was my brother's preference or his grandchildren's and that he needed to find a way really to snap out of it."

Jonathan credits 35-year-old model/actress Ricki Noel Lander with pulling his father out of a deep, dark, yearlong depression. Robert, sitting in a suite at a lavish Arizona resort, nodded his head slowly.

"It's true," he said Thursday morning, between sips of a green protein shake. "I just met her by accident."

He was in California closing a business deal in 2012, and a friend threw him a party. Lander, a willowy, striking blonde, was there, too.

"I was in a very bad way," Kraft acknowledged, "and she did a lot to change that. She was a great influence on me."

Despite the fact she is half his age, they have been fast friends for 2½ years.

"As his son, I'm very grateful and appreciative of what Ricki's done," Jonathan said., "Because Ricki snapped him out of that permanent morose state that he was in and got him back to his vibrant, dynamic, energetic self. And I appreciate her doing that.

"It's not about building anymore. He's going to do what makes him happy now."

Building and maintaining relationships remains the cornerstone of Kraft's success. After Lander and the rest of his large family, the most important relationship in his life is the 15-year marriage between head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

Privately, he admits it hasn't always been easy, that there were occasions when the union might have been dissolved. But that continuity at a football team's two most important positions probably is the biggest reason the Patriots have been so successful.

"Robert, for lack of a better analogy, is their marriage counselor or parent," Jonathan said. "They each have blind faith and trust in my father, and he keeps it whole and functioning. The big-picture things like that are what drive him. He understands what's ultimately going to drive our success and focuses on maintaining it."

Former Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy, who was famously released after helping New England win Super Bowl XXXVI, echoed the notion of Kraft's importance, while not sounding bitter at how his Pats' career ended.

"Mr. Kraft understands his role, which is a very powerful role," Milloy said of the Patriots' triumvirate from his Seattle-area home. "He understands the way that they got there, winning the first one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. All three of them got something really, really good going.

"He's the one that's holding it all together."

^ Back to Top ^