Getty Robert Krafts super Bowl ring
We have a winner in the bid for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring. The price was a hefty $1.025 million.
Kraft put his Super Bowl LI ring up for sale with proceeds going to the All In Challenge (a digital fundraiser that aims to aid in food insecurity across the United States). The mammoth price paid makes Kraft’s ring one of the most expensive items ever auctioned off in All in Challenge history.
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The winner of the auction, who hasn’t been identified, will get more than the ring. They will also be treated to a personal visit with Kraft at his Gillette Stadium office in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The winner will ride the team’s private plane to the facility. The bidding for the ring began at $75,000. Over nearly two weeks, 35 bids were made before the auction closed on the item at $1.025 million.
“What could I do that would be special?” Kraft asked himself as he searched for the right symbol to spur on his contribution to a worthy cause. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. I finally thought about our experience in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons. We were down 28-3 and had 99.6% odds to lose. And we came back, and we won. And I thought about what is going on at this time and wanted to give something of extreme value in support of our health care workers. So I thought it would be good to give this ring, our fifth Super Bowl win because it showed how we came back.”
The All-In Challenge has already raised more than $45 million for its cause, and this contribution from the person who will be awarded the ring and once-in-a-lifetime experience will be providing a significant boost to the total.
Kraft has been especially generous during this tough time for the nation and the world. The soon-to-be 79-year-old lent the team’s 767 plane to provide a transport option for 1 million N95 masks for frontline healthcare workers in Massachusetts. In addition, Kraft also purchased 300,000 protective masks for New York state.
While the Patriots organization often absorbs criticism for things like Spygate and Deflategate, the franchise and its owner has stood at the forefront of several generous acts of charity.
The Patriots franchise, like every other in the NFL await the final particulars regarding the upcoming 2020 season. The team has undergone a ton of transition, most notably the departure of future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady who left the team in free agency to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Because of the changes, there is no telling when the Patriots will return to Super Bowl glory. However, Kraft’s generosity and the tie-in with the organization’s past glory is a fitting accent to the dynasty.