The New England Patriots lent the team’s airplane to the Navy’s football team ahead of its college bowl game in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Navy’s team, which consists of midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, earned its spot to play the Kansas State Wildcats in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The Naval Academy Athletic Association revealed on Tuesday that the team was going to be heading to Memphis aboard the Patriots’ private jet.
In a statement, Scott Strasemeier, the Navy’s senior associate athletic director, thanked Patriots owner Robert Kraft for letting the team use the jet for the bowl game.
“The NAAA and the New England Patriots have a longstanding relationship, which certainly did not hurt our ability to work out an agreement with the Patriots,” Strasemeier said. “We are extremely grateful for the support and the cooperation we received from Mr. Kraft and his staff.”
The team also thanked the Patriots by posting a photograph of the airplane on Twitter with the caption, “@NavyFB traveling to the @AZOLibertyBowl in STYLE. Thank you @Patriots.”
The Patriots tweeted back to the team, “Sweet ride.”
[Previous coverage: Trump joins cadets in the stands to watch Army-Navy game]
Sweet ride ? https://t.co/V6x6PFwXi0
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 26, 2019
Kraft, 78, is a supporter of President Trump, as is the team’s quarterback Tom Brady. The face-off between the Midshipmen and the Wildcats will air on ESPN on Dec. 31.
UPDATE: Navy Athletics reached out to the Washington Examiner on Twitter to clarify that though the Patriots allowed them to use the plane, “the Naval Academy Athletic Association paid for the charter.”
Story is inaccurate. They did not lend it. The Naval Academy Athletic Association paid for the charter
— Navy Athletics (@NavyAthletics) December 26, 2019
