Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Explains His Friendship With Donald Trump

Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, Patriots owner Robert Kraft is speaking out about his friend, President Donald Trump.

At the Super Bowl press day at NRG Stadium in Houston, where Super Bowl LI will be played, Kraft explained his close friendship with Trump and revealed a more tender moment between the two men after Kraft’s wife of 48 years, Myra, passed away in 2011.

“When Myra died, Melania and Donald came up to the funeral in our synagogue, then they came for memorial week to visit with me,” Kraft told the New York Daily News. “Then he called me once a week for the whole year, the most depressing year of my life when I was down and out. He called me every week to see how I was doing, invited me to things, tried to lift my spirits. He was one of five or six people that were like that. I remember that.”

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Despite the fact that Kraft is a Democrat who supported Barack Obama in his bids for the White House, Kraft attended Trump’s pre-inauguration dinner.

It seems the love is mutual. On Election Day, Trump was all about the Patriots, telling a crowd in Manchester, N.H., that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick endorsed him. According to Trump, Belichick also wrote him a letter that Trump’s staff shared with him.

“Tom Brady — great guy, great guy,” Trump said. “Great guy, great friend of mine — great, great champion. Unbelievable winner. And I want to tell you this guy is a champ, he’s a winner, and he’s a great person.

“So I said, ‘So Tom, you voted for me, you support me, am I allowed to say it tonight at this massive crowd in New Hampshire?’ He said, ‘If you want to say it, you can say it.’ OK? Tom, that’s what a champ is all about.”

While Kraft is a Democrat and owner of a team in a Democratic state, he told the Daily News he hopes Trump’s administration will help those struggling in America’s urban areas.

“To be honest, I think we have a real challenge, especially in the inner cities,” Kraft said. “Working-class people and lower-income people, we have to help more. They’ve gotten hurt over the last decade a lot. We have to create jobs and a vibrant economy that helps those communities throughout America. I really believe and hope that the new administration is going to do that.”