The owner of the New England Patriots urged the Russian president to return the ring in May 2024.
Super Bowl rings. (/Keynote USA/Getty Images)”>
Vladimir Putin was accused of stealing one of Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl rings. (Image courtesy of /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin stole a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Classification:
On May 6, 2024, Barstool Sports posted a video clip from one of its podcasts in which the hosts described how Russian President Vladimir Putin once stole a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
According to the sports news outlet, Kraft gave the ring to Putin when the couple met in 2005 after the Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles for their third Super Bowl victory. However, the host said that the Russian leader had no intention of returning the prized possession:
Putin puts it on and says, “I can kill someone with this ring.”
Robert Kraft extended his hand and Putin put the ring in his pocket. Three KGB guys surrounded him and left.
The White House spoke to him by phone and told him: “It would be really beneficial to relations between the United States and the Soviet Union if you would like to give the ring away.”
Barstool Sports captioned the video: “The story of how Vladimir Putin stole a Super Bowl ring from Robert Kraft.”
The post had accumulated more than 490,000 views at the time of writing.
However, the claim appeared online long before Barstool Sports’ publication. Examples can be seen on Reddit in 2022, Facebook in 2017, and on X in 2013.
Various media outlets reported on the story over the years, and Kraft had also retold it repeatedly since 2005. However, some of the details in the billionaire’s numerous anecdotes about the so-called robbery varied with each retelling, for example. We rate this statement “Not proven.”
According to a New England Patriots press release dated June 30, 2005, Kraft issued a statement the day before saying that he presented the ring to the Russian leader on June 25 “as a symbol of the respect and admiration I have for the people.” Russian and the leadership of President Putin.”
But in June 2013, numerous credible media outlets reported that the businessman told an awards gala in New York that Putin took the iconic jewelry without permission. The aforementioned quote referenced in the Barstool Sports clip was reported by KeynoteUSA, the KeynoteUSA, and The Guardian and obtained from the New York Post’s Page Six online site.
Previous reports said the Russian leader denied stealing the ring through his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and offered to buy another one from the Patriots owner. However, in response, a Kraft Group spokesperson said the Patriots owner’s comments should not be taken too seriously.
“It’s a humorous, anecdotal story that Robert retells for a laugh,” spokeswoman Stacey James reportedly said, before adding:
He loves that his ring is in the Kremlin and, as he stated in 2005, he continues to have great respect for Russia and President Putin’s leadership. In particular, she credits President Putin for modernizing the Russian economy.
On January 19, 2017, Kraft told NFL.com that he showed the ring to Putin, who “put it on and kind of enjoyed it, so he kept it on.”
He did not say whether or not he intended to permanently part with the prized possession.
Then, on May 5, 2024, the billionaire explicitly urged Putin to return the ring during Netflix’s “The Roast of Tom Brady.”
“And one more thing. In case, Vladimir Putin, you’re watching, give me back my damn ring, will you?” Kraft said on stage.
Nick Hardinges is a London-based journalist who previously worked as a fact-checker at KeynoteUSA.
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