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Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN senior writer
Six-time Super Bowl winner Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, considered a favorite for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class, has again been passed over by the Hall’s contributors committee, they said. sources to ESPN.
Instead, the nine-member committee, which each year submits a name for consideration by the Hall’s 50 voters, chose Ralph Hay, co-founder of the National Football League and owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 to 1922, five Sources with knowledge of the decision told ESPN this week.
The contributors 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 a previous NFL era whose names have not yet been released, will be considered by the full selection committee for the Hall in January 2025.
In response to questions from ESPN, the Hall of Fame issued a statement Thursday, saying the names of all finalists will be “jointly announced in early December, once all committees have held their selection meetings.”
Longtime Patriots spokeswoman Stacey James declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.
This year marks the 13th year that Kraft, now 83, was considered by a Hall committee but failed to make it out of the committee. Eighty percent of voters must approve the finalists nominated for induction into the Hall in Canton, Ohio.
Several voters told ESPN they were surprised the committee didn’t name Kraft as a finalist this year. After the Hall divided coaches and contributors into separate categories, some voters said they believed Kraft had an easier path to induction.
“It’s a big surprise,” said one source, who insisted on anonymity. “And it’s very disappointing. Unless you’re an NFL historian, you don’t know who Ralph Hay is.”
Hay is considered the founding father of the NFL. In 1920, he organized the first meeting of teams that became the American Professional Football Association, the precursor to the NFL. Historians say that without Hay, the NFL may not have existed.
Kraft has had 13 opportunities for Canton, while Hay has been overlooked since the Hall was founded in 1963. In fact, he had never been a finalist until this year. In 2020, after the Hall convened a specially selected group of voters to elect a centenarian class to mark the NFL’s centennial, voters chose three contributors for induction.
Hay was not among them.
A source who was angry at the selection of Hay over Kraft said: “Hay didn’t believe the players should be paid. He sold the team after only four years. I don’t know how he is considered more deserving than Bob Kraft.” .
Although Hay does not have a bronze bust in Canton, a Hall of Fame honor bears his name. Established in 1972, the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award is presented to individuals who have made “significant and innovative contributions to professional football.” Fernando Von Rossum, an NFL broadcaster in Spanish, received the award in August.
In 1972, Hall of Fame coach George Halas praised Hay, saying he “was a pioneer in Canton…and dreamed of bigger and better things in the form of a major league…I highly recommend that Ralph Hay be elected to our position.” “Professional Football Hall of Fame and will be honored as will others who have followed him as players or owners.”
In September, ESPN reported on the long campaign that Kraft’s supporters have waged on his behalf to obtain a bronze bust in Canton. Kraft’s supporters say he is long overdue for office. The lifelong Patriots fan bought the team in 1994 and quickly built it into one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. He hired Bill Belichick as coach in 2000 and oversaw the Patriots’ six Super Bowl-winning seasons from 2001 to 2018.
“There’s no box that Robert Kraft doesn’t check to get into the Hall of Fame,” Hall of Famer Bill Polian, an ardent Kraft supporter, told ESPN earlier this year.
Beginning in 2012, James ran an aggressive campaign for Kraft, who boosted his boss’ candidacy in numerous ways, including sending the best-selling 2018 pro-Kraft book, “The Dynasty,” written by Jeff Benedict, to voters. of the Hall of Fame. One voter said he received the book two years in a row.
Multiple sources said James did not lobby for Kraft this year.
In the last decade, three owners have been added. Eddie J. DeBartolo, the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, was inducted in 2016 despite losing his team in 2000 due to its connection to a racketeering case. Jerry Jones, owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, was inducted in August 2017. And Pat Bowlen, the late owner of the Denver Broncos, was inducted the following year.
In mid-October, the Hall of Fame announced the 25 contributors who would be considered for the Hall of Fame. In addition to Kraft and Hay, the other contributors who were considered include Art Modell, the former owner of the Cleveland Browns; Bud Adams, who founded the Houston Oilers and later moved the franchise to Tennessee; and Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey.
From television, three people behind the success of “Monday Night Football” were among the 25 nominees considered, including legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell and Roone Arledge, the ABC executive who produced the games that elevated the NFL’s popularity in the 1990s. 1970.
