New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's effort to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame has reportedly hit another setback.
Despite the tremendous success in Foxborough, including multiple Super Bowl wins, ESPN reported Thursday that Kraft been passed over for the class of 2025.
Kraft was among the nine semifinalists announced last month.
According to ESPN, the Contributor Blue-Ribbon Committee has not advanced him to be a finalist. Only one of the nine in the category is moving on, and it's not Kraft.
This marks 13 years in a row Kraft has been eligible for the Hall of Fame, but has not made the final cut.
Kraft bought the team in 1994 and turned it into one of the all-time best franchises, with head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady leading the team to six Super Bowl titles.
NFL
According to ESPN, the semifinalist from the contributor category who's moving on to be a finalist is Ralph Hay, one of the founding members of the NFL.
"I'm sure some of the scandals that the team has been involved with over the course of time don't help," said Phil Perry, Patriots insider for NBC Sports Boston. "There have been suggestions that the push for his candidacy to the Hall of Fame has turned some people off, which I think is overblown. And quite frankly, if you can't separate a person’s credentials from whatever quote-unquote 'push' may have been made on his behalf, to me, I'm not sure you're qualified to be voting on things like this."
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Patriots spokesperson Stacey James said the team has no plans to make a statement on this issue.
