Robert Kraft: Vladimir Putin took my Super Bowl ring (1 Viewer)

[Faust]

The truth finally comes out:

Robert Kraft: Vladimir Putin took my Super Bowl ring

By Marc Sessler

Around the League Writer

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has made the rounds this week, dishing on Tim Tebow's "spirituality," and telling tales about his encounters with powerful men of the east.

You might recall that Kraft in 2005 joined a cadre of businessmen to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. The Patriots owner walked into that meeting with a jewel-laced Super Bowl XXXIX ring on his finger, but left empty-handed.

"I showed the president my most recent Super Bowl ring," Kraft said at the time, per The Boston Globe. Putin "was clearly taken with its uniqueness ... at that point, I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and the leadership of President Putin."

Not so fast. Kraft now admits Putin nabbed the ring -- worth upwards of $25,000 -- without his consent.

"I took out the ring and showed it to (Putin)," Kraft said this week, per the New York Post. "And he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring,' I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."

Kraft kept his wits about him and complied with a call from the White House, in which a George W. Bush handler told him: " 'It would really be in the best interest of U.S.-Soviet relations if you meant to give the ring as a present.' "

(KGB and the Soviets? Sounds like something out of 1982, not 2005.)

I had an opportunity to chat with Kraft in the hours before Super Bowl XLVI, and asked him which of his Super Bowl victories meant the most. "That's like asking about different children," he said. "Every child is special."

Especially a child kidnapped by the Russians.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.

 

[Tool]

And they haven't won a super bowl since. The curse of Putin. Someone needs to get that ring back.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

I thought for sure this was going to be an article from The Onion.

Nope.

 

[msudaisy26]

I heard a rumor that Kraft offered lifetime season tickets to anyone that recovers the ring for him. Last I knew about 50,000 Boston natives that are Call of Duty players were doing sit ups and push ups between Black Ops missions to train for the mission.

 

[ShaHBucks]

That's pretty gangster

 

[CoachJankySpanky]

It's not like Kraft doesn't have enough cash lying around to have another one made in Putin's size so they could exchange them. The obvious problem with that is the potential for Putin to be the owner of two Super Bowl rings when the dust settles.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Robert Kraft: Vladimir Putin took my Super Bowl ring

Feh!

That's nothing.

Vladimir Putin dingos ate my baby.

 

[Faust]

Vladimir Putin: Robert Kraft's Super Bowl ring was gift

Excerpt:

By Marc Sessler

Around the League Writer

UPDATE: Putin's spokesman rebuts Kraft's claim, telling CNN that Putin did not steal the ring and instead was given it as a gift. He even called Kraft's comments "weird." "I was standing 20 centimeters away from him and Mr. Putin and saw and heard how Mr. Kraft gave this ring as a gift," the spokesman said Sunday.

The Patriots did their best to throw water on any potential controversy when reached for comment by NFL.com and NFL Network on Sunday.

"It's a humorous, anecdotal story that Robert re-tells for laughs," Pats spokesperson Stacey James said. "He loves that his ring is at the Kremlin and, as he stated back in 2005, he continues to have great respect for Russia and the leadership of President Putin. In particular, he credits President Putin for modernizing the Russian economy. An added benefit from the attention this story gathered eight years ago was the creation of some Patriots fan clubs in Russia."

 

[bagger]

In Soviet Russia, Super Bowl rings take you.

 

[Faust]

Vladimir Putin: I don't remember Robert Kraft or ring

By Gregg Rosenthal

Around The League Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin got the last word Friday on the Super Bowl ring he allegedly took from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. And Putin doesn't remember a thing.

"You know, I do not remember either Mr. Kraft or the ring," Putin said, via AFP. "They handed out some sorts of souvenirs. But if it is such a valuable thing to Mr. Kraft and his team, I have a proposal.

"We will ask our enterprises to craft a really good, noticeable thing -- so it is clear that it is expensive, made of a good metal, with a rock -- so that this jewel is passed on from generation to generation in the team whose interests Mr. Kraft represents.

"I think that this would be the most intelligent ... solution to such a difficult international problem."

Yep, Putin brought out the "I don't even remember that guy" move. Rare, but devastating.

Kraft reportedly told a story last week about how he once showed his Super Bowl ring to the Russian president, with Putin pocketing the ring. Putin's spokesperson later denied the story, saying Putin was given the ring as a gift. The Patriots later released a statement saying the story was told for laughs, all the while complimenting Putin's economic policy.

Whether Putin remembers it or not, the ring remains at the Kremlin.

Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

 

[richn]

Send Aaron Hernandez to shoot Putin in the face, and get the ring back.