Putin takes Robert Krafts superbowl ring

Russian President Vladimir Putin walked off with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring, but was it a generous gift or a very expensive international misunderstanding?

Following a meeting of American business executives and Putin at Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg on Saturday, Kraft showed the ring to Putin -- who tried it on, put it in his pocket and left, according to Russian news reports.

It wasn't clear if Kraft, whose business interests include paper and packaging companies and venture capital investments, intended that Putin keep the ring.

Did Putin mistakenly take this ring? If not, could it be a bribe by the Billionere owner of the 3 time superbowl champion New England Patriots?

Putins corner is claiming it as a present from Kraft, but who would give a superbowl ring with over 100 dimonds in it as a gift?

Wow, that really is a striking ring. One glimpse at "World Champions" diamonds inlay from the ring's 124 total equalling 4.94 carats, not to mention weighing 4.06 ounces making it the heaviest Super Bowl ring ever must have had Vlad the derailer murmuring "my precious", also the emblem's two red streaks merging into the blue with that star might have caught his fancy symbolizing alliance, maybe the 'eagles' defeat along with being presented by the World's most well-known Patriots had further personal significance to him. Who knows...lol

"I showed the president my most recent Super Bowl ring," Kraft said in a statement released Wednesday. The Russian president "was clearly taken with its uniqueness," Kraft said.

"At that point, I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and the leadership of President Putin," Kraft said.

A senior Kremlin official, Dmitry Peskov, told The Associated Press that Putin had given the ring to the Kremlin library where other foreign gifts are kept.

msnbc.msn.com...

Hope it's at least kept far far away from those Carl Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs or at least until Putin decides he's Sauron.





[edit on 29-6-2005 by Vajrayana]

Putin did the right thing if he pulled a 5-finger discount. Owners shouldn't get a SuperBowl ring when their team wins. All they do is sign the checks! It's the guys who shed sweat, blood and tears who deserve the rings. It's the guys who spend every single waking hour working on plays and watching film who deserve the ring. Gimme a break! Craft has enough money to buy thousands of SuperBowl rings if he wants another one.

Anyway, the last thing you ever do is hand something valuable to a guy whom you can't communicate with directly. It'd be different if Putan spoke excellent English or Craft spoke excellent Russian.

This may actually been a cultural misunderstanding. Offering it to Putin to 'try on' may be interpreted by a Russian as a gift. Perhaps its a lesson to Kraft to study up on common customs and such.

If Putin did steal it, then Im sure it will be cleared up and returned.