Which NFL owner gave Vladimir Putin a Super Bowl championship ring?

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, was the NFL owner associated with giving Vladimir Putin a Super Bowl championship ring.

The incident took place in 2005 after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX. During a meeting with the Russian president near St. Petersburg, Kraft showed Putin his large, diamond-studded championship ring. Putin tried it on and left with it; Kraft later said he had not intended to give it away.

The episode remains disputed in its details. Kraft’s later account described the ring as being taken, while a Kremlin spokesman said Kraft had presented it as a gift. Kraft also said that U.S. officials encouraged him to publicly characterize the ring as a gift in order to avoid a diplomatic dispute.

The ring was from the Patriots’ 2004 season championship, not a trophy awarded personally to Putin. Kraft continued to own other Patriots championship rings, while the missing ring became one of the strangest stories in Super Bowl memorabilia history.