Bad NFLPA grades push Patriots' Robert Kraft, Chiefs' Clark Hunt to make upgrades
Most of the wealthy NFL owners don't like being embarrassed by being called out for not having adequate facilities.
The New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs are known as good, winning franchises but they got some bad grades in last year's NFLPA poll. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt got an F- grade, despite his team winning three of the past four Super Bowls.
The point of the NFLPA poll, theoretically, is to shine a positive light on the model franchises and be a wake-up call to teams lagging behind. In the case of the Chiefs and Patriots, it seems like it worked.
The owners from both teams said they either have upgraded facilities or are in the process of doing so.
Chiefs fixing up facility
Hunt's low grade was one of the biggest surprises in the poll because the Chiefs have been the NFL's best team on the field the past few years.
The complaints about the Chiefs' owner were about the outdated training facility and locker rooms.
Hunt told The Athletic the team has made upgrades, including an air conditioning system and a larger cafeteria in the training facility, and there are ongoing facility upgrades that will be done by September.
“We are making some pretty significant investments in the training facility this year and we’ll continue to do that,” Clark told The Athletic. “We’ve outgrown that building in a number of ways.”
A team with back-to-back Super Bowls shouldn't have to be pushed into facility upgrades, and Hunt said improvements were already being made. A little push didn't seem to hurt though.
Patriots also making improvements
Robert Kraft of the Patriots said he didn't know there was displeasure over the facilities. The Patriots ranked 29th overall, with their weight room getting an F and a C- for the locker room. Kraft got a D+.
“I must tell you, I was unaware of how bad it was,” Kraft told a group of reporters at the NFL's spring owners meetings, via Boston.com.
Kraft said the team is making improvements, including more than $50 million on a new workout facility, according to Boston.com.
The NFLPA poll seems to have done its job in those two markets. The Chiefs and Patriots couldn't have been happy to receive such low grades, and facilities that players were dissatisfied with are being upgraded.
Perhaps other owners will be proactive to avoid bad grades on the next poll.
