Kenny Chesney and Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Are ‘Thick as Thieves’: Inside Their Unlikely Bond

New England Patriots football team owner Robert Kraft and his longtime quarterback Tom Brady made beautiful music together for 20 years — but a source exclusively tells Closer it’s country music superstar Kenny Chesney who is now the apple of the maverick sports titan’s eye! 

Kenny, 56, recently wrapped up his Sun Goes Down summer concert tour in Foxborough, Massachusetts, by playing a blitz of three sold out shows before nearly 200,000 fans at Gillette Stadium, owned by Robert, 83, and home of the Patriots. 

It marked a new high in the longtime partnership between Robert and Kenny — who has played at the stadium a whopping 24 times, netting the pair an estimated $50 million apiece! 

But their bond is built on more than bucks, the source says. 

“When Kenny first played the stadium in 2005, big-time stadium concerts were a rarity, and Bob took Kenny out to lunch to see if he was the kind of guy who could pull it off,” says the insider. 

“It was a gamble for both of them — but now they’re thick as thieves!” 

And while Robert and Tom, 47, had a bit of a fumble in 2019 when Touchdown Tommy took his talents to Tampa Bay, Kenny has become one of Bob’s closest confidants. 

“Mr. Kraft told my father several years ago, and it meant so much to my dad, that we were family,” says Kenny. 

“People don’t just do that or say that. But it’s very, very true.” 

And the relationship continues to make plenty of moolah! 

“Kraft made millions off Tom during their 20 years together with the Patriots,” dishes another source. “But Kenny is still raking in the dough for him — no wonder he sees him as a son!”