There’s something about Presidents and New England Patriots Super Bowl rings. Patriots owner Robert Kraft had his Super Bowl XXXIX ring taken by Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the ring is “on display with other state gifts at the Kremlin.”
Kraft’s apparently also given a Super Bowl LI ring to President of the United States Donald Trump.
According to former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci, as told to the twitter account of /r/Patriots, “Bob Kraff [sic] just gave the president the ring for last years game”, adding that the ring “will go into his presidential library.”
When asked for clarification the team told CSNNE’s Tom Curran that Kraft didn’t give Trump his own ring, but instead had a ring created for President Trump, “because the team was the first to visit the White House after a championship win.” President Trump wanted to put the ring on display, as Scaramucci initially indicated. The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin reports that the Patriots engraved Trump’s name in the ring.
Most presidents receive honorary jerseys from teams that visit for championship victories, so to have a ring created is out of the ordinary.
It’s no secret that the people at the top of the New England Patriots organization all supported Donald Trump for the election. Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady all hang out with President Trump, with Belichick writing a letter of support for Trump during the election and President Trump claiming that Brady called to confirm he cast his ballot in Trump’s favor. Kraft has maintained a close relationship because Trump offered his support when Myra Kraft was battling cancer.
President Trump is also currently receiving deep criticism for equating neo-nazis and white nationalists to those that protest against them. The President’s response to the events at Charlottesville have played a role in more NFL players protesting during the national anthem. Numerous Patriots players refused to attend the White House after winning Super Bowl LI due to inflammatory remarks and actions made by Trump.
The United States Department of Justice is also investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, where the United States Intelligence Community concluded that President Putin ordered an “influence campaign” with a “clear preference for President-elect Trump” as Russia “aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances.”
The fact that Presidents Trump and Putin are in possession of Super Bowl rings, via Robert Kraft, is a coincidence as far as anyone knows, but is notable on its own.