Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Claims Putin Walked off With His Super Bowl Ring
"Give me my f---ing ring back, will ya?" Kraft said in a message to the Russian president.
By Dan ClarendonMay 6 2024, Published 11:45 a.m. ET
If you’ve observed protection of The Roast of Tom Brady, you could have noticed Robert Kraft ship a strongly worded message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“And one more thing, in case, Vladimir Putin, you’re observing, give me my f--king ring again, will ya?” the New England Patriots owner stated during the roast, as seen on social media.
So, um, exactly why does Putin have a Super Bowl ring?
The backstory dates back to 2005, when the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl XXXIX, AL.com studies. Here’s the news — and the conflicting studies.
Why does Putin have a Super Bowl ring?
Putin got a 2005 Super Bowl ring from Kraft in 2005, nevertheless it’s unclear whether Kraft intended to provide the ring away.
Kraft and different U.S. businessmen were given face time with Putin at a meeting near St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2005 following Super Bowl XXXIX. Russian media reported at the time that Kraft gave Putin the ring close to the top of the meeting and that Putin put it in his pocket and walked off, in keeping with The Associated Press.
In a statement, Kraft mentioned he had talented Putin with the ring. “I confirmed the president my most recent Super Bowl ring. [Putin] was once clearly considering its strong point,” Kraft said in a statement. (Uniqueness is one word for it: The ring is encrusted with 124 diamonds.)
“At that time, I made up our minds to offer him the ring as a image of the glory and admiration that I have for the Russian other folks and the leadership of President Putin,” Kraft added.
A senior Kremlin legitimate informed The Associated Press that Putin then gave the ring to the Kremlin library, which hosts a number of international items.
Years after the handoff, Kraft mentioned he didn’t intend to gift Putin with the ring.
Kraft offered a different version of events all over at a New York City gala in 2013, according to Page Six.
“I took out the ring and confirmed it to [Putin], and he put it on, and he is going, ‘I can kill any individual with this ring,’” Kraft told the gala crowd, Page Six reported at the time.“I put my hand out, and he put it in his pocket, and 3 KGB guys were given around him and walked out.”
Kraft mentioned he later got a name from then-U.S. President George W. Bush’s management, announcing, “It would really be in the most productive interest of U.S.-Soviet family members for those who meant to give the ring as a provide.” (Kraft most likely meant to say “U.S.-Russian members of the family” in his recollection of that call, since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.)
The billionaire said he “really didn’t want to” surrender his claim to that piece of jewelry. “I had an emotional tie to the ring, it has my name on it. I don’t want to see it on eBay,” he stated. “There was a pause at the other end of the road, and the voice repeated, ‘It would in reality be in the most productive pastime should you supposed to provide the ring as a present.’”
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, denied that version of occasions. “What Mr. Kraft is saying now could be bizarre,” Peskov stated on the time, consistent with CNN. “I was standing 20 centimeters away from him and Mr. Putin and noticed and heard how Mr. Kraft gave this ring as a present.”
And Kraft’s anecdote was once even contradicted in a remark from Kraft Group spokesperson Stacey James. “[Kraft] loves that the ring is at the Kremlin and, as he stated again in 2005, he continues to have great recognize for Russia and the leadership of President Putin,” James mentioned, in keeping with CNN.
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