Which Patriots icon, Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft, is more Hall of Fame worthy?

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Which Patriots icon, Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft, is more Hall of Fame worthy?

Matt Vautour · MassLive

Thu, Dec 4, 2025 ·

4 min read

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The Bill Belichick vs. Robert Kraft debate now has official stakes.

Until Wednesday, debating who was responsible for how much of the Patriots dynasty was simply fun fodder on barstools or on sport talk radio with no right answer. But the Pro Football Hall of Fame has just empaneled its enshrinement voters as a jury, and the case is officially before them.

The New England Patriots’ legendary owner and coach are both finalists to be in Canton’s class of 2026.

They could both get in. Voting procedure makes that a little difficult, but not impossible.

And it would be fitting if they did go in together. Despite the bickering, the partnership had a great deal to do with both men’s success. Each of their individual skills was complemented by the other’s. Even if they’re hesitant to admit that, maybe the voters will.

While Robert Kraft isn’t blameless in the Real Housewives of Foxborough drama, he’s never publicly wavered in his praise for Belichick as a coach. Even as Belichick has lobbed petty bombs toward the Patriots in the middle of his 4-8 season at North Carolina, Kraft has talked about eventually putting a statue of Belichick next to Tom Brady ’s under Gillette Stadium’s lighthouse after the coach retires.

When the Hall of Fame unveiled both men as finalists, the Patriots’ social media accounts posted the news jointly with pictures of Kraft and Belichick together.

Belichick has been far less genial. The coach, who was famous for his perceived single-minded focus on winning, has come off obsessed with hunting for perceived slights from the Patriots then disputing and responding to them.

If he gets in, media and fans alike will closely monitor what he says about the Patriots and Kraft in his remarks and his acceptance speech or if he ignores them altogether like he did in his book.

That would be especially noteworthy and potentially awkward if Kraft is on stage alongside him.

There could be voters who would be less inclined to vote for one or both of them to avoid such a scene. Although one voter, who spoke to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., suggested the opposite might be true.

“You could have a delicious moment where Kraft and Belichick get busts together,” a veteran Hall of Fame voter told ESPN . “I’d pay a lot of money to watch that. ... Of course, only one of the two men could get in. And I’d pay a hell of a lot of money to see that.”

The Hall of Fame’s desire for small classes and the perception that it’s really hard to get into are more likely to deter their joint induction than any feud avoidance. That approach, and its convoluted voting process, has created a logjam that has kept Kraft, a pretty obvious choice for induction, out so far. And it could stand in his way again.

Kraft and Belichick are two of five candidates in the Coach, Contributor and Seniors category, along with Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, 49ers running back Roger Craig and Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood. As many as three of those could get in, but they have to earn 80% of the vote from a committee that is limited in how many candidates it can vote for.

The class of 2026 will be revealed during Super Bowl week.

Belichick’s case is more tangible and if just one of the two gets in, it’ll certainly be him. His 333 combined regular-season and postseason wins are second only to Don Shula’s 347. Belichick won a record six Super Bowls as a head coach and two more as an assistant coach.

His coaching resume stacks up against anyone’s. If he’s not in the Hall of Fame, there shouldn’t be a Hall of Fame. Some people who will want to ding him for Spygate and Deflategate and for generally being a boorish crank. But that’s unlikely to get the door shut on him in Canton.

Any owner’s candidacy is harder to quantify. Kraft should get credit for not only hiring Belichick but trading a first-rounder for him. Belichick, who’d failed in Cleveland , wasn’t considered a home run candidate at the time. On top of that, Kraft saved football in Massachusetts and has been a leader among owners in labor negotiations and television rights deals.

Anybody who blames the owner for either of the ‘Gates or Orchids of Asia is disingenuous. Eddie DeBartolo is in, despite being suspended by the league for a year and settling a sexual assault case out of court. Kraft’s success was greater than DeBartolo’s and his drawbacks aren’t nearly as damning.

But around here, it won’t be Kraft vs. DeBartolo or anybody else. In New England , the next two months plus will have plenty of Bill vs. Bob debates until the class is revealed.

Maybe they should just wait and put them both in with Tom Brady in 2028.

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