Robert Kraft “warned” Falcons Owner Arthur Blank not to hire Bill Belichick

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ON JAN. 15, four days after Kraft bid farewell to Belichick in Foxboro, Falcons owner Arthur Blank met one-on-one with Belichick aboard his 295-foot, $180 million superyacht named DreAMBoat, moored late that day in Antigua. It was Belichick's first official job interview since 1998, when he met with Al Davis and the brass of the then-Oakland Raiders. The job went to Jon Gruden. In a lengthy interview with Blank, Belichick showed no rust, sources said. Blank told colleagues that he was very impressed. "I think Blank came away from the boat thinking this is my guy," a source close to Belichick said, though from his vantage point, any momentum following that meeting seemed to die over the next week. A second meeting was planned with team CEO Rich McKay and other Falcons executives.

Despite that friendly first session, the unthinkable happened for a billionaire and a legendary coach: Blank and Belichick checked each other's references. Blank spoke by phone, at least twice, to Robert Kraft. Among the NFL owners, Blank considers Kraft his closest friend. Publicly, Kraft and Blank have said Kraft expressed only support and offered praise of his former coach.

But in a conversation with Blank, Kraft delivered a stark assessment of Belichick's character, according to a source who spoke to two people: a close Kraft friend and a longtime Belichick confidant. The source quoted the Belichick source as saying, "Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill." That account was backed up, the source said, by the close Kraft friend.

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