Patriots’ ex-player astounded to receive Super Bowl ring

Kenjon Barner, a little-used Patriots running back during brief stretches of the 2018 season, couldn’t believe it when he received his very own Super Bowl ring.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft may still have his fair-share of detractors after his role was allegedly revealed in a massage parlor prostitution scandal earlier this year (although Kraft has maintained his innocence and the case has not gone to trial yet), but at the very least, no one can accuse the billionaire of being cheap.

Every year, the NFL pays for up to 150 Super Bowl rings to be distributed to the winning team: its players, its coaches, it staffers, etc. Exactly how those rings are distributed is ultimately up to the team, but inevitably, there are usually some people who are going to be left out when the jewelry is dispersed.

Not in New England.

Kraft has made sure in recent years that the Patriots order additional rings well beyond the original 150 the NFL pays for and provides. Such was the case again with this year’s championship, Super Bowl 53, as Kraft reportedly put in an order for 231 rings.

One of those rings was sent to Kenjon Barner, a 29-year-old running back who has spent the majority of his professional career bouncing around from franchise to franchise (he is currently on his eighth NFL stint and his fifth new team since being drafted in 2013).

Barner may not be a familiar name to most casual Patriots fans, and that’s okay. He originally signed with the Patriots just a week into the 2018 season before he was cut eight days later. Then Rex Burkhead went down with an injury, and Barner was re-signed. He played all of one game with the team – totaling three carries for 11 yards – before getting cut a second time by New England.

But his rollercoaster ride with the Pats wasn’t finished yet. Barner was brought back a third time and played an additional four games in the middle of the season before being released for good finally in November, after which he signed with the Carolina Panthers (and ended up on injured reserve).

All things considered, Barner finished his 2018 season as a player with just five games of action, 19 rushing attempts, and 71 total yards.

And yet, Robert Kraft mailed Barner his very own Super Bowl ring, along with a personal note thanking Barner for his contributions to the franchise’s winning season.

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Whatever you think of Kraft – and/or whatever you think of the New England Patriots – it’s hard not to appreciate the classiness of them sending Barner a championship ring.