Report: Robert Kraft won't secure Hall of Fame induction this year

Patriots owner Robert Kraft eventually will have a bust in Canton. But not this year.

Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.com reports that Kraft has been passed over by the committee that selects contributors to be presented for a full induction vote. The committee made its decision on November 12.

The committee instead selected Ralph Hay, a co-founder of the National Football League and the owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 to 1922.

Regardless of whether it should have been Kraft, Ralph Hay? He's precisely the kind of candidate who should have been added to the mega-class that the Hall of Fame jammed into Canton four years ago, in connection with an effort to add the many people who hadn't previously secured a spot.

Kraft, whose candidacy was the subject of an ESPN.com #LongRead in September, has been considered 13 times. He has never advanced out of the contributor committee.

An unnamed source told Van Natta this about the decision: "Hay didn't believe players should be paid. He sold the team after only four years. I don't know how he is seen as more deserving than Bob Kraft."

Amen to that. And it's just another reason why I'd never want to be involved in the selection process (not that they'd ever want me). Too many weird decisions get made, and this is just one of them. The arbitrary decisions (which often are influenced by some who simply don't like a given candidate) undermines the entire process, and it bolsters Deion Sanders's view that too many get in who shouldn't be.

Earlier this year, Hall of Fame G.M. Bill Polian — who regularly did battle with Kraft's Patriots when Polian was with the Colts — said this about Kraft: "There's no box that Robert Kraft doesn't check to get into the Hall of Fame."

Kraft will eventually get in. The only question is whether he'll have to wait as long as Ralph Hay, who got the nod over a group that included former Browns and Ravens owner Art Modell, Oilers founder Bud Adams, Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, Monday Night Football creator Roone Arledge, and legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell.

Some would say that someone as accomplished as Kraft needs no external validation of the things he has done. Others would say, "Who the hell is Ralph Hay and how is he more deserving than Kraft or any of the others?"

Hay will still need to get enough votes at the full induction meeting, where an 80-percent supermajority is needed. My guess is that at least 20 percent will, at the proper time, say no way to Hay.