PatsBlog: A Patriots Blog

I was perusing the web pages of Sports Illustrated and came across a column of Michael Silver’s in which he ratesthe owners in the NFL. I found this interesting because I tend to notice what the Krafts do, since they own my hometown team and I follow their dealings closely. But I couldn’t imagine ranking all the other teams’ owners. My question is, are the Krafts really better owners than any other of the fat cats?

My first reaction is to support the Krafts because I love the Patriots. But sometimes you don’t always love the person in charge just because you love the thing he’s running. For example, not everybody likes George W. Bush yet still love the country. So I think the idea deserves some debate.

In general, I love what Kraft has done with the team since he took over. I love the stadium (tho Patsblog creator Greg doesn’t like how they’ve changed Foxboro). If it was smaller, I’d prefer it to Fenway to watch baseball. The Krafts have been the class of the NFL of this decade and are showing no signs of letting up. Players like Brady and Harrison have agreed to restructure their contracts for lower pay while others have held out for more. It must be tough to manage athletes’ salary concerns while keeping the best product on the field, but the Krafts do seem to me rather tight fisted at times.

I like how the Krafts delegate a lot of personnel decision making to Belichick and Pioli while remaining keenly interested in the process. Their plans for Patriot Place in Foxboro are ambitious and the Patriots represent the greatest competition for New England sports fans to the Red Sox organization, and I personally like the Krafts’ style better.

Although I am not an expert on all other owners, I have thought about it and I mostly agree with MIchael Silver’s estimation of the Krafts as number one. Now let’s see if they can get Asante back on the field in September.