Robert Kraft may be the most impactful NFL team owner of the 21st century. Not only did Kraft build the Warren Buffett of NFL franchises, but he also ended the NFL lockout in 2011 with a heavy heart
However, if Kraft’s recent story about his meeting with Russian shadow leader turned President Putin is true, our fragile peace with Russia may be threatened. Ok, not really, but it did force the Russian President to deny deebo-ing a billionaire's ring. This all came about from Thursday night's admission by Kraft about how the KGB and White House played a role in his "giving "Putin his Super Bowl XXXIX ring during a 2005 visit to St. Petersburg, Russia.
Via ESPN:
"I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring,'" Kraft told the crowd, according to the New York Post. "I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."
A spokesman for Putin, however, told CNN on Sunday that the ring was definitely given as a gift.
"What Mr. Kraft is saying now is weird," Dmitry Peskov told CNN. "I was standing 20 centimeters away from him and Mr. Putin and saw and heard how Mr. Kraft gave this ring as a gift."
On Thursday night, Kraft told the crowd that he really wanted the 4.94-carat bauble back, admitting he'd gotten a call from the George W. Bush-run White House, saying, 'It would really be in the best interest of United States-Soviet relations if you meant to give the ring as a present.' "
