The rift between legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has long been whispered about, but now there may be the strongest indication yet that the bad blood between the two is very real. Despite their 24-year partnership that brought the Patriots six Super Bowl titles, Belichick‘s upcoming memoir The Art of Winning doesn’t include a single mention of Kraft’s name.
For a book that spans nearly 300 pages and a career that turned a middling franchise into one of the most valuable sports properties in the world, the omission is loud.
It was first pointed out by veteran Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, who previewed the memoir and confirmed that Kraft’s name appears nowhere in the text, not even in the acknowledgments-which list an eye-popping 363 individuals.
Belichick, it seems, had plenty of people to thank. Just not the man who signed his checks for two decades.
A dynasty, divided in the end
Belichick and Tom Brady were the cornerstones of one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history. But it was Kraft, the businessman who purchased the team in 1994 for $172 million, who benefitted perhaps most from the Belichick-Brady era.
Today, the Patriots are valued at a staggering $7.4 billion according to Forbes, making them the third-most valuable franchise in the NFL behind only the Cowboys and Rams.
Still, when the dynasty began to unravel, many observers speculated about who deserved the lion’s share of the credit-Brady or Belichick.
That debate began to fade when Brady won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first year after leaving New England, while Belichick failed to reach the same heights, posting a 29-38 record in his post-Brady years. Things bottomed out in 2023 with a 4-13 season, prompting the so-called “mutual parting of ways” between Belichick and the Patriots.
Most didn’t buy the “mutual” angle, and the silence in The Art of Winning speaks volumes. The omission of Kraft from the book appears intentional, especially as Belichick references “The Patriot Way” only to downplay it, suggesting it “does not exist” and calling it a “money grab.” If that’s not a veiled jab at Kraft and the team’s commercialized legacy, it’s hard to imagine what else it could be.
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