Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s snub shows again that Hall of Fame voters don’t like cheaters

When Patriots owner Robert Kraft sent his team to his 11th Super Bowl, a record for any owner, in search of a seventh title, which would be a record for any franchise, he expected the team to have to deal with uncomfortable questions.

Last week, ESPN reported that Bill Belichick, who won all six of New England’s titles, did not receive the minimum number of votes by a committee required to secure induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in this cycle.

Now, Kraft and the Patriots will spend the week answering questions about why Kraft didn’t make it, either. ESPN reported Tuesday that Kraft failed to receive at least 40 of 50 votes required for induction. The 2026 inductees will be officially announced Thursday.

Several explanations and theories circulated following last week’s news. There were assertions that some voters sought revenge for Belichick’s constant bullying. There were assertions that the new, convoluted voting system is flawed.

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But the reality seems clearer than ever:

The voters don’t like cheaters.

The Patriots were found guilty of cheating twice during their run. Spygate and Deflategate cost them millions of dollars and several draft picks.

Notably, the span of cheating included not only Super Bowl XXXIX, when they beat the Eagles, but also all but two of their Super Bowl appearances: their loss in Super Bowl LII to the Eagles and their win the next year over the Rams.

Clearly, voters believe that cheating devalues winning.

They also might consider Kraft’s 2019 involvement in a massage-parlor sting a disqualifying element (see below).

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday, before the news broke, “They are spectacular. They have contributed so much to this game, and I believe they will be Hall of Famers.”

It sounds like Goodell knew that Kraft hadn’t made it, either.

It also sounds like Goodell knows, as hard as it is to imagine, that their tainted records might keep them out forever.

The NFL is supposed to hold team executives to a higher standard of conduct than it holds players. Don’t expect Deshaun Watson and Justin Tucker to believe that.

Goodell on Monday indicated that the league will not immediately launch an investigation into Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, and probably never will. Tisch appears repeatedly in the latest released batch of files concerning the activities of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial in 2019.

There are hundreds of emails between Tisch and Epstein, some of which indicate that Epstein was supplying Tisch with female companionship. This correspondence took place after Epstein had served jail time for soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution, the latter conviction requiring him to register as a sex offender in both Florida and New York.

The nature of the companionship and the ages of those companions Epstein supplied to Tisch remain unknown. Tisch insists that all of the women Epstein supplied him were adults and that he never visited the notorious Epstein island.

Even Tisch’s apparently legal and possibly acceptable interaction with a man who has become synonymous with sex trafficking and pedophilia sounds like something the NFL should probably investigate, right? The Personal Conduct Policy exists to keep The Shield clean.

No, said Goodell.

“We will look at all the facts,” he said. “We’ll look at the context of those, and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the policy. I think we’ll take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.”

» READ MORE: Bill Belichick’s cheating cost him first-ballot Hall of Fame induction. It might have also cost the Eagles a Super Bowl title.

Well, that’s what an investigation does.

With so many more prominent personalities mentioned in the files, including President Donald Trump, it is likely that the government will have neither the bandwidth nor the incentive (Trump routinely diminishes the files) to pursue a relatively small fish like Tisch.

Translation: Unless other entities uncover more facts about Tisch’s relationship with Epstein and what services he provided him with, the NFL will turn a blind eye.

Which is the opposite of what it does with its players.

I don’t think there’s any question that if, say, Jameis Winston was found to have exchanged similar emails with Sean “Diddy” Combs, who went to prison for sex-related offenses, the NFL would investigate the matter posthaste (sorry for the stray, Jameis).

But it seems like Goodell will handle this matter the way he handled the Robert Kraft scandal.

» READ MORE: The Eagles cut Christian Elliss as the 2023 season unraveled. His new life with the Patriots has him back in the Super Bowl.

The Patriots’ owner was caught in a sex trafficking and prostitution sting in 2019. Video allegedly showed Kraft paying for sexual acts on consecutive days that year in Florida. The misdemeanor charges were dropped, but Kraft admitted at least a measure of guilt when he apologized for having “hurt and disappointed” fans and family members.

Unlike Kraft, neither Watson nor Tucker was ever charged with a crime for his alleged sexual misconduct with private massage professionals, but both were suspended without pay.

Goodell chose to not punish Kraft back then. He seems just as reluctant to hold Tisch accountable today.

Notably, NFL owners like Kraft and Tisch are the ones who pay Goodell’s $64 million salary.