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A connection between Robert Kraft and Vladimir Putin may not be one NFL fans think about on a regular basis. But New England Patriots fans will likely recall a story shared by Joe Rogan on a past episode of his podcast.
Rogan brought up the story about how Putin allegedly "stole" one of the Patriots' owner's Super Bowl rings. The story is almost hard to believe and starts with a simple meeting.
“He (Kraft) had this Super Bowl ring on, meets Putin. Putin says, ‘Can I hold the ring?' You know, takes the ring off, puts it on.”
But once Putin got a hold of the ring, he was not giving it back.
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“He (Putin) said something like, 'You could smash someone’s face with this ring' and laughed and just walked off with the ring. And they were like, ‘Hey, where’s the ring?’ He’s like no. He just stole the ring.”
As expected, Putin has denied this. Yet it took on a life of its own back in 2005, so much so that the United States government had to get involved.
Bush administration reportedly pushed Robert Kraft to say he gifted Super Bowl ring to Putin
The Patriots' owner continued to discuss this matter, and an article reported that the Bush administration called him and asked him to stop saying Putin stole the ring. That led Kraft to then come out and say the ring was a gift, only to go back on his story years later.
People around the world are now viewing the way in which Putin operates in terms of telling the truth. That likely has many taking Kraft's side in this conversation. Why would he gift such a valuable and sentimental piece of his life to a foreign leader? It just doesn't make any sense, and he would not give it away in an impromptu way.
Ultimately, this ends up being a bizarre piece of trivia for sports fans and people, like Rogan, to recall. The good news for the NFL owner is that he has five other rings, thanks to the success of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in New England.
Will he ever get this one back? That seems highly unlikely given the even worse relationship between the United States and Putin.
