When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined other American business leaders in meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2005, he probably didn't expect the Russian President to leave with his Super Bowl ring. Despite suggestions to the contrary in the Boston Globe, Kraft released a statement at the time saying that the ring was a gift for a ' great and knowledgeable sports fan... as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and [his] leadership.'
However, the American business magnate has now revealed that it may have been more of a robbery than a gift, “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.”
Kraft claims that he was persuaded by the United States government not to pursue the issue for fear of damaging U.S.-Russian relations. It seems he may have received another phone call from the White House after a Patriots spokesman released a statement on sunday 'clarifying' the story.
"It's a humorous, anecdotal story that Robert re-tells for laughs. He loves that his ring is at the Kremlin and, as he stated back in 2005, he continues to have great respect for Russia and the leadership of President Putin". A spokesman for the Russian President also described the story as 'weird'.
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(H/T New York Post)
(Photos via Zimbio and Upstreamonline)
