Patriots Owner, Robert Kraft Joins the show!

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Patriots Owner, Robert Kraft Joins the show! Live from Sam Adams Boston Taproom

Transcript

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.

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