May 31, 2014
We could all use a little more humor so here’s my attempt at some Championship Ring folly:
Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, visited with Russian President Putin back in 2005. The visit did not go too well for Mr. Kraft.
“I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, ‘I can kill someone with this ring.’ I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.” said Kraft.
After returning to the United States, Kraft demanded the return of his ring. The White House intervened and at the behest of the American government, Kraft was instructed to claim the ring was a gift in order to ease possible tensions between the Russians and the United States. Looks like this attempt to ease tensions between the two countries failed.
According to the story, the government told Kraft, “It would really be in the best interest of US-Soviet relations if you meant to give the ring as a present.”
While the Patriots owner continued to tell officials that he wanted his personalized 4.94-carat diamond-encrusted ring back, the White House continued to stay firm in their stance that it would be best to claim it was a gift and leave it at that.
The person who designed and photoshopped this clever picture got one important detail wrong. Putin is shown with the New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXVI ring (the Pats first Super Bowl Victory). The ring that was stolen was the Patriots last Super Bowl Championship Ring, from Super Bowl XXXIX. The Super Bowl XXXIX is about twice the size of the ring shown on Putin’s finger.
