The Rhode Island Rams’ football team got an enormous lift this week courtesy of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
The 5-0 Rams have a road game against Towson on Saturday, which left a bit of a complication. The bus trip to the Baltimore suburbs would have been eight hours each way. Coach Jim Fleming had budgeted for a charter flight both ways, but on Monday, the airline was unable to find a crew for the return flight.
Desperate to avoid the bus ride, Fleming reached out to the Patriots, who have a home game on Sunday. The Rhode Island coach asked about the availability of the Patriots' plane and was prepared to pay for it out of the program budget.
Kraft, however, had other ideas. Not only did he approve Rhode Island’s use of AirKraft, but he covered all costs, essentially letting the Rams use it for free.
“I almost fell out of my seat. … It’s incredible for us,” Fleming told Angelique Fiske of the Patriots’ official website. “It’s an incredible show of support. It’s visible and recognizable by everybody. It probably enhances our opportunity to go out and play as best we can and try to get another W.”
Rhode Island’s Twitter account shared an image of players preparing to board on Friday, as well as a message of gratitude to both Kraft and the Patriots.
Kraft has a history of being quite generous with the team plane. Rhode Island isn’t the first college football team to get to use it. Kraft has even loaned it out for reasons that go well beyond football.
Rhode Island has just four winning seasons since 1985. The Rams can clinch a fifth by beating Towson and moving to 6-0, and there’s no question Kraft’s assist has helped their chances of achieving it.
More must-reads: