Robert Kraft says he expects to honor Wes Welker in Patriots Hall of Fame

Photo by Katie Shannon/Patriots Life

Wes Welker is kind of a polarizing figure among Patriots fans right now.

Which is funny because, a year ago, he was almost everyone's favorite player.

However, a contract dispute led to Welker leaving Tom Brady to go gallivanting around on the NFL's best offense with Peyton Manning in Denver.

Now, the two teams will face eachother in the AFC Championship game.

Some Patriots fans blame Welker for leaving, others blame the team for letting him go.

Whatever, the case, Robert Kraft still has love for Welker, and maybe that's all that matters. Kraft even believes that Welker should be in the Pats Hall of Fame one day.

Chris Gasper, Boston.com:

“Like many of our fans, Wes was one of my favorite players,” said Kraft. “He is one of the toughest, grittiest wide receivers I’ve ever seen. He was a fan favorite because you knew he was going to give you every ounce of effort he had on every play.

“I loved watching him play, loved spending time with him off the field. He was great in the community.

“I expect that one day we will honor Wes in our Hall of Fame. I’d like to see him get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I will be a big supporter of that. That’s the way I feel about Wes. We had a very warm greeting back in November.”

That really is the highest possible praise from one of the most influential people in the NFL. Hopefully that quote finds its way to Wes Welker.

Will Welker make the fan voted Pats Hall of Fame? He's an obvious lock in this writer's opinion. While the Pats never won a Super Bowl with Welker, they did have their (then) record breaking season with him, and he was as much a part of the team's personality and success during that six years. For god sakes, the man had under 100 catches only once in his entire Patriots career.

Kraft also went on to call this year's team, not just special, but super-special.

“We’ve had some wonderful experiences and some wonderful teams, but this team really is super-special,” said Kraft. “When you go through the locker room, you can get a feeling for the chemistry, how guys feel about one and another, the camaraderie.

Dishing out compliments left and right, this guy.