The Patriots may have lost the greatest quarterback of all time in free agency, but Bob Kraft is moving on to more important things right now. He’s playing a role in fighting COVID-19 in Massachusetts, which is a really nice state that is unfortunately filled with Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics fans.

Kraft send the Pats’ team plane to China and it came back with 1.2 million N95 protective masks.

Story from ESPN via the WSJ:

According to The Wall Street Journal, the transfer was the result of multiple global negotiations and the Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, calling on Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft for his help in acquiring the masks.

The Patriots’ plane had to be upgraded for international travel and a waiver to avoid a 14-day quarantine in China was granted if the crew did not leave the aircraft, according to the Journal.

…

The Kraft family paid $2 million, about half the cost, to acquire the masks, according to the newspaper. The initial order was for 1.7 million masks, but only 1.2 million could fit on the plane. The remainder of the masks are set to be delivered in another shipment, the Journal reports.

Nice job by him. Kraft has been a pretty charitable dude over the years. He’s part of Michael Rubin’s criminal justice reform group and has done a lot of healthcare-related philanthropy with his wife and family.

Let’s just hope these masks are legit. There were reports from the BBC and other outlets that China had sent supplies to other countries, which ended up being defective. There were issues with tests kits and the filters on the masks, which weren’t working as intended. Fingers crossed that these supplies are solid and get to where they need to go.