Patriots owner involved with mystery baby that 'everyone is afraid' to discuss
It not an understatement to say that the New England Patriots organization is no stranger to controversy.
And while Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been at the centers of ‘Deflategate’ and ‘Spygate,’ respectively, the man behind the curtain has always been Patriots team owner Robert Kraft. You cannot go any higher than Kraft when it comes to the Patriots hierarchy. He is the very top of the totem pole.
And yet, despite the controversies surrounding his organization, Kraft himself has always avoided any major controversy. Sure, some blame gets passed off onto him anytime the Patriots are caught bending the rules, but by and large, Kraft has come out relatively unscathed, especially when compared to Brady and Belichick.
Well, Kraft now has a controversy that he can call his own now — albeit a controversy that doesn’t have anything to do with actual football, so it probably won’t get a snazzy “-gate” nickname.
Kraft, 76, and his girlfriend, 38-year-old Ricki Noel Lander, are now involved in a baby mystery that seems to be rubbing Kraft’s four adult sons the wrong way.
Kraft and Lander have been dating for about five years. In 2011, Kraft lost his wife of 48 years, Myra, to cancer. He reportedly fell into a deep funk and didn’t take care of himself well until he met Lander sometime in 2012.
When Kraft and Lander stopped being spotted together, many assumed the two had broken up. However, it turns out Lander wanted to stay out of the public eye because she was pregnant.
“Last fall, Ricki Noel Lander became the proud mother of a beautiful, healthy baby,” representatives for Kraft told TMZ Sports.
Considering that the two had been together for five years, many naturally assumed that Kraft was the father. His representatives quickly dismissed that notion after confirming the birth of the child.
“While Robert Kraft is not the biological father, he is thrilled with Ricki’s blessing of having a healthy child. With respect to her family’s privacy, we will not be commenting any further.”
Of course, this leads to speculation about who the father is. Even sources close to the couple have no idea, per Page Six. Despite the lack of knowledge, there is still plenty controversy surrounding the mystery child, especially with regards to Kraft’s adult sons.
In 2013, shortly after Kraft first started dating Lander, his sons tried to change the family’s decades-old trust so they could have more control over the assets. The Massachusetts Supreme Court approved the change. There is speculation that Kraft will now include either Lander or her mystery child in the trust.
Sources claim that Kraft is prepared to financially take care of Lander, who is 16 years younger than his oldest son, and the baby. He has reportedly already purchased a sizable Los Angeles mansion for Lander, on top of other financial “investments.”
Even within the Patriots organization, the topic of the baby’s father is apparently taboo.
“There is a lot of tiptoeing around the subject at the Patriots offices. Everyone is afraid to openly talk about it,” one source told Page Six.
While the real story behind Kraft’s mystery baby probably isn’t nearly as sordid as some of the extenuating circumstances may suggest, it’s certainly odd that the issue is such a forbidden topic.
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