Patriots Legends Belichick And Kraft Show Signs Of Putting Aside Differences As Hall of Fame Finalists

For too long, the names Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft occupying the same space have been punctuated by discord, by offense and counter-offense, and by an ugliness among two of professional football's greats that simply doesn't belong.

But that is perhaps changing. 

We may be seeing the dawn of a new day in which the coach with the most Super Bowl rings and the club owner without whom the history of the NFL this century could be written are on the same page and there's no enmity in sight.

Owner Robert Kraft shakes hands with former head coach Bill Belichick. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Now, it's all about accomplishment. And glory. And perhaps peace.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that Kraft, who has owned the New England Patriots during their 10 Super Bowl appearances and six championships since 1994, was selected as a finalist for the Hall's Class of 2026. A blue ribbon committee selected Kraft to be a first-time finalist out of worthy list of contributor candidates.

The Hall also announced that Belichick had been selected as a finalist coming out of the voting by the blue ribbon coach's committee. 

I confess I was pleased by Belichick's selection because I presented his case to the panel.

Belichick Acknowledges Kraft

"Congratulations to the other finalists, Roger Craig, Kenny Anderson, L.C. Greenwood, and, of course, Robert Kraft," Belichick wrote on his myspace page.

If you don't get it, you're just too young. 

Belichick actually posted his appreciation and tip of the hat to the other finalists, including Kraft, on his Instagram account.

The Patriots, obviously with Kraft's knowledge and approval, similarly noted that both men are vying for football immortality at the same time because they posted the two together on their social media channels.

Belichick And Kraft May Go In Together

And this united celebration is meaningful. And good.

Because now these two men who dominated the NFL the past two decades have a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2026.

Together.

And that would serve as an amazing opportunity for peace on the NFL's Mount Olympus.

We need that peace because it's been lacking between Kraft and Belichick for a while. Despite the history-making bond the two men forged during the 24 years Belichick worked for Kraft, the two have had something of an antagonistic, fractious and definitely complicated relationship the last couple of years. 

Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Public Discord Has Been Obvious

And the animosity has bled over into the public arena multiple times.

Kraft, for example, this year mentioned on the Dudes on Dudes podcast that he had taken a "big risk" in hiring Belichick back in 2000 because New England gave up a first-round draft pick for a coach whose record at the time was unremarkable.

Belichick pushed back publicly.

He said it was he who really took a risk by leaving a safer situation with the New York Jets and accepting a job at the struggling, over-the-cap, poorly performing organization the Patriots were at the time.

That wasn't the last time the two took either perceived or apparent swipes at one another.

Little Feud Went Back And Forth

Belichick is close with former coach Bill Parcells, and people close to him say he was rankled that he didn't get a special invite to the Parcells induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. 

So Belichick responded by forbidding Patriots scouts from attending practices or visiting his University of North Carolina football facility.

"[It's] pretty clear I'm not welcome around [the Patriots] facility," Belichick told reporters. "So [Patriots scouts] are not welcome at ours. It's pretty simple."

This, of course, is all quite petty and not entirely accurate. The Patriots a year earlier invited him to Tom Brady's induction to their Hall of Fame. The Parcells ceremony was open to everyone. And Carolina had a game on the date of the Parcells ceremony anyway. So, facts.

But, at any rate, none of this should be overshadowing the grand accomplishments these giants achieved individually and together.

So maybe the grace each seemingly granted the other in acknowledging their status as Hall of Fame finalists signals the relationship turning the corner. 

And it would be fitting, after all that's happened, if both greats were inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year. Together.