Patriots owner Robert Kraft shocked a gay flag football team by showing up to support it

Imagine coming off the field from your neighborhood flag football game, dripping in weekend-warrior sweat, and there stands the owner of the New England Patriots.

Naturally, you might be curious why Robert Kraft — a man said to have a net worth north of $8 billion — is, you know, there. Just hanging out.

Was Kraft watching a relative or close friend play? Did he happen to be nearby and just wander over? Did his driver get lost?

No, it turns out that Kraft was simply there to support a Massachusetts gay flag football team.

There was no press release. No attention drawing needed. Just your average billionaire NFL franchise owner supporting a gay flag football team and a great local charity.

As one of the flag football team members, Alex Reimer of Outsports.com, noted in his blog about the event, Kraft just swung by to watch the action — one day before the Patriots took on the New York Jets on the road.

What's the big deal, you ask? Well, it's a sign that Kraft doesn't just support the group — FLAG Flag Football Boston — with financial backing. He also comes to watch them play. That's a personal touch money can't buy.

There also was a charitable component to the weekend. The flag football team helped raise donations of 25,000 items for Hope & Comfort, a local charity that helps with hygiene insecurity for needy youths and families in the area. The Patriots helped support the cause, and the owner was on hand for it.

Kudos to Kraft, who has been a big supporter of the LGBTQ community for years (even before it was popular to do so) and who appears to go above and beyond mere check writing and ribbon cutting.

This is the kind of outreach we'd love to see more of in the NFL community, and Kraft's above-and-beyond effort shows that even the world's wealthiest people can donate something that carries even more value than donations.

Their time.