Super Bowl 2019: Patriots owner Robert Kraft is "quite confident" Bill Belichick won't retire this year
When the Los Angeles Rams face off against the New England Patriots on Sunday at the Super Bowl, they'll be taking on the most decorated team in the NFL in the past 25 years. Under the ownership of Robert Kraft, the Patriots have won 18 division titles, 10 conference titles and five Super Bowl championships. One of the key factors has been the team's continuity — it's the first to win five Super Bowl titles under the same owner, coach (Bill Belichick) and quarterback (Tom Brady).
"We've been privileged to have the two key people who are the greatest, in my opinion, in… the 99-year history of the NFL at their positions. And keeping them together, it will be two decades next year. And that's the main task of ownership," Kraft said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning."
Kraft revealed one of his rules is "never make a change unless I know I'm making an improvement."
"In life, if you want to develop something that has sustainability, the first thing is you try to attract good people that fit your culture. The trick of that is to make sure there's never division from within," Kraft said. "There can be a lot of different opinions from within, but that you keep it together and get everyone to check their ego at the front door."
On Sunday the 41-year-old Brady said there's "zero" chance that he'll retire after this year's Super Bowl game. That may be the case for Belichick as well.
"We have a great pact. He loves what he does. He's so good at it," Kraft said of Belichick. "We've created an environment where he can work to best of his ability, so I'm quite confident he'll be back."
Kraft said he hopes the Patriots players, when they run onto the field on Sunday, will keep in mind that they may never be at another Super Bowl game again.
"It took us over 30 years to get to our first game. So we try to make sure that people are completely focused on nothing but the game and doing what they can to close the order," Kraft said.
You can watch Super Bowl LIII on CBS or stream it live on CBS All Access this Sunday, Feb. 3.