NFL Rumors: Patriots' Robert Kraft's HOF Candidacy Impacted by Spygate, Deflategate

The "Spygate" and "Deflategate" scandals from the New England Patriots' past could complicate the Hall of Fame candidacy of team owner Robert Kraft in the view of The MMQB's Albert Breer.

Breer wrote Monday the old controversies are a "problem for Kraft," who can't take credit for the Patriots' success on the field without bearing some responsibility for when the franchise violated NFL rules.

For those unaware, the Patriots were punished in 2007 after their coaches were found to have videoed the signals from opposing coaches. Then came the revelation in 2015 that team staffers had intentionally under-inflated most of the game balls from the previous year's AFC title game.

ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham detailed in September 2015 how there was a "widespread perception" that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went easy on the Patriots during the "Deflategate" fallout. New England had also earned a reputation as cheaters whose circumvention of the rules played a role in building a dynasty.

Breer reported a general sense of fatigue and frustration from the Hall of Fame's contributor committee could present another roadblock for Kraft.

"There's a feeling the contributor committee was worn out years ago by the back-room politicking for Kraft," he wrote. "More recently, the public narratives that they're idiotic for not putting Kraft in have probably hurt Kraft's case, because this committee doesn't want to be told what to do, or that they don't know what they're doing. And Kraft endlessly showing up on TV, and having game broadcasts tooting his horn, doesn't help to quell those feelings, either."

Van Natta shed some light on that politicking in September describing it as a "relentless Hall of Fame campaign" and one that "became more urgent and inventive." As an example, he cited Jeff Benedict's 2020 book The Dynasty and accompanying Apple TV+ docuseries as undertakings that were perceived "to juice Kraft's Hall of Fame candidacy."

With the reported choice of NFL co-founder Ralph Hay in the contributor category, Kraft's Hall of Fame wait will extend for another year. Based on Van Natta and Breer's reporting, that delay may carry on far beyond that.