Patriots Owner, Robert Kraft Joins the show! Live from Sam Adams Boston Taproom
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00:00We just spoke to Whit Grosbeck.
00:01Yeah, we did.
00:02I think it's only fair that we spend a few moments with the owner of the New England Patriots,
00:08Robert Kraft, who is on the phone this morning.
00:11Wow!
00:14Robert, good morning.
00:15Good morning, guys.
00:17How are you?
00:18How you doing?
00:19I'm great.
00:20You know, I want to congratulate you on your, I guess it's a birthday, is it?
00:27Yeah, five years.
00:29Well, it's kind of an anniversary, but, you know, we're celebrating it as a birthday.
00:34Well, you brought a lot of joy and interesting discourse to the market.
00:44And, you know, I've enjoyed watching your transition from WAAF.
00:53And we share something special together.
00:57Because last night was my first game with a man after I went over and shook our head coach's hand.
01:09And I said, you know, we're starting to build new chapters after 25 years.
01:15This is the first game.
01:17So we're celebrating this week together.
01:21Yeah.
01:22Well, it must have been interesting last night and throughout this process to look at things differently at times.
01:31And what is so far, you know, to kind of sum up what Gerard Mayo has brought to the table so far?
01:39How would you do that?
01:42Well, I just want to give you a little anecdote.
01:46I was told your celebration was Tuesday.
01:51And so I got a pal who comes up to practice once a year.
01:55And I thought we'd have him call with me that your fan base would be more interested in him.
02:01Which was Jon Bon Jovi, who has been a strong Pats fan since 96.
02:09And I was going to have him call with me.
02:13My great guy Stacey James usually gets it right.
02:17But he told me Tuesday was your fifth year celebration.
02:22So we missed Jon Bon Jovi?
02:25We would have loved to have Jon Bon Jovi on the show, Robert.
02:28And he's become a big Beantown fan.
02:33And since 96, he became a huge Pats fan.
02:38So anyhow, just a little tidbit on the side.
02:44But, you know, it's pretty exciting building a new foundation.
02:51And, you know, you said you had WIC on.
02:56And congratulations to them and the great job their team did.
03:00And now we had a wonderful run.
03:05And we're building a new foundation.
03:10I think to do something pretty special in the marketplace.
03:14I'm very excited about the people we have building.
03:20I don't know what I reckon it'll be this year.
03:24But I see the pieces in place that we can have a good time.
03:32One of those pieces is hopefully Drake May.
03:35What's been your impression of him?
03:37Not only last night, but kind of since he got here.
03:40He's really been first class.
03:43You know, he's 21.
03:47And these young people come into the marketplace.
03:50And he has the advantage of coming from a very strong family.
03:59You know, when we signed him, his three brothers all came with him.
04:03One of the brothers flew over from Japan where he plays basketball.
04:08And he came with the three of them and his girlfriend that he'd been dating since seventh grade.
04:16And they were all there last night.
04:19And he's keeping his head down, working hard.
04:23And just has a good connection to all the guys in the locker room.
04:31Robert, I think Wiggy has a question.
04:33And it's not why he's not in the Patriots Hall of Fame yet.
04:39You know what?
04:41That's a legitimate question.
04:44Look, his 10-catch performance in the snowball versus the Raiders.
04:50And the fact that he's a Beantown guy.
04:54You know, the only thing that might hold it up is I got an autographed picture from John Gruden.
05:06And in it, you know, he said that the hit on Brady was a fumble.
05:13So he sort of negates all the great things that happened.
05:18No, but that's a legitimate question by Wiggy.
05:22And I'm so proud to have that Beantown guy.
05:27I don't know if you remember that game he had, but it was unbelievable.
05:32Yeah, it was a good one.
05:33Listen, I'll take a plus one invite to Michael Rubin's White Potty next year.
05:40Robert, when you look at Elliott Wolfe and some of the stuff that he's doing actively.
05:45It seems like he's going after Brandon Ayuk.
05:48And hopefully that's something that can maybe still get done.
05:51C.D. Lamb is another guy that potentially might be one out.
05:55How do you feel that Elliott Wolfe has done in his transition to, you know,
06:00being the guy now trying to help put the pieces in place, like you said, to start this next chapter?
06:07Well, I think Elliott is doing an excellent job.
06:15You know, everything is new.
06:19And part of the reason that I chose Elliott and, you know, there are a lot of good people.
06:27And I must say, he has a lot of good mates with him helping him out, especially Matt Groh.
06:34But, you know, it's so exciting to be in the building and seeing the collaboration and the discussion.
06:46And Elliott comes from a great background.
06:50He's got great pedigree on football knowledge and experience.
06:56And now it's just putting the relationships and information together
07:01to help us get the kind of talent that we need to win consistently.
07:10And, you know, it really has been very exciting to see what's going on there.
07:17And I wish our fan base could see the collaboration.
07:22And like I said, I don't know what our record will be this year.
07:26But I'm very comfortable that we're building something that's going to be very special over the next few years.
07:34Robert, you talk about turning the page to a new chapter.
07:37What's been the biggest change in your mind between the years of Bill Belichick and this new chapter with Gerard Mayo?
07:45Look, we were privileged to have the greatest of all time in Bill and what he accomplished here.
07:56I think what's happened is the locker room has changed.
08:04The players coming in 25 years ago are different than they were 15 years ago.
08:14And the ones coming in now from 10 years ago are different.
08:22And the one thing I think that Gerard Mayo has a wonderful sense of how to relate and connect.
08:34And, you know, part of the reason we chose him is he was the number 10 draft choice.
08:45But, you know, he was elected a captain in his second year by guys who had won the Pro Bowl.
08:54And, you know, he was a captain for his whole career.
08:57Then he went into private industry.
08:59Then came back in coaching.
09:02And I think he is in tune with what modern day players want to, how they want to be interacted with.
09:14And it's not what's right or wrong.
09:18I mean, in the end, we'll see how we do over the next few years.
09:23But I'm very high on what I've seen.
09:27Robert, we know one person you're high on is Tom Brady.
09:31Tom Brady night was a remarkable night down there at Gillette Stadium.
09:35One o'clock start for the Patriots against the Bengals.
09:38How quickly will you get to a TV set for 425 to see Tom Brady's debut on Fox?
09:44And what do you anticipate from him in the broadcast booth?
09:50You know, he's such a unique individual.
09:54I think back, you know, people ask me what I saw that made him different.
10:02Besides his preparation and attention to detail, he's a man who when he'd go into the huddle,
10:12he could make average people better just the way he led.
10:19But he also had a quality where he's very sensitive and he's got a huge heart.
10:27And that combination of being a fierce competitor with a huge heart and then doing tremendous preparation,
10:37you know, it just made him, and he was genuine.
10:42You know, he never put something on or said something to try to be politically correct.
10:50He was honest and pretty proud of this community and how they came out.
10:57We celebrated him on his night, you know, to get Jay-Z and Kenny Chesney to come here
11:06and Peyton Manning and Randy Moss going into tears.
11:12And it was pretty special.
11:16Well, last night was exciting. We can't wait for opening week.
11:21And I appreciate, Robert, you've always been great to us and certainly great to the Foundation.
11:29And I really appreciate you taking the time to call this morning.
11:35I've always kind of considered myself to be a fifth son of yours.
11:40And I appreciate all the support.
11:44Well, I'm honored and congrats to you what you do with your Greg Hill Foundation.
11:51You know, having 9,000 beneficiaries and giving tens of millions of dollars.
11:58So, you're a cool Hill man.
12:03We can't wait to get it going and thanks for taking the time this morning, Robert. Thank you.
12:10Well, thanks. I hope you'll invite me back five years.
12:14Five years from now. We will definitely have you back five years.
12:17We'll have you back in five days. Are you kidding me? We love it.
12:20We'll be at Gillette on Monday.
12:22Round of applause for Robert, please, if you could. Thank you, Robert.