Patriots lend team plane to Virginia football program for player funerals

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has once again stepped up to lend a helping hand. 

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported Monday morning that a Patriots spokesperson confirmed Kraft loaned the team plane at no charge to the football program of the Virginia Cavaliers so that members of that team could attend funerals for three Virginia football players who were tragically shot and killed on Nov. 13. 

Florio and ESPN's Andrea Adelson noted the entire Virginia team attended the funeral service for D'Sean Perry on Saturday in Miami. A memorial service for Devin Chandler was held on Sunday in Virginia Beach, and a celebration of life service for Lavel Davis Jr. will take place this Wednesday in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The Patriots lost at the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving night and didn't need their plane through the midweek. 6-5 New England next hosts the 8-3 Buffalo Bills this Thursday evening. 

Kraft has a history of such generous gestures. As explained by NBC Sports Boston, he sent the team plane to China to bring roughly 1.2 million N95 masks back for frontline workers in Massachusetts shortly after businesses and sports leagues around the world shut down in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. In a far less serious instance, the Patriots loaned their team plane to Providence Friars support staff members and fans after Providence qualified for the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament this past March. 

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers understandably opted against playing their final two games of the regular season following the tragedy. Virginia finished the campaign at 3-7.