Gronk brings the fiesta to GOAT Bowl
Tight end made Patriots fun even if Belichick hated it
Rob Gronkowski mangled more than one language in the name of fun.
“Yo Soy Fiesta” remains his most infamous quote.
Its literal translation from the Gronkesque Spanish: “I am party.” That he was. And is.
For Gronkowski, the operative Spanish phrase this week would be: ¿Donde es la fiesta?
Or: “Where is the party?” A zillion words have been written, spoken, aired, printed, and posted about Tampa Tom Brady’s return to Foxboro to face Bill Belichick and the Patriots Sunday night. Most of them were justified. Save for the moronic billboards, forced radio antics and predictable jingoistic boosterism from our favorite local TV affiliates, there has been gold hidden amid the bovine manure.
But Gronkowski has received barely a whiff of recognition, discussion or talk of tribute.
In case you forgot, Gronkowski played nine seasons at tight end in New England. He started 100 regular-season games, had 521 catches for 7,861 yards and 79 TDs.
He was unarguably the best player at his position over the past decade, if not of all time. Gronkowski donated his body not to science, but to the Patriots and multiple female companions. His time often went to charity.
Gronkowski had a helluva time, most of the time, in New England.
We learned thanks to Mike Reiss of ESPN that among Gronk’s favorite things were hiking along wooded trails, enjoying summer from “Boston to the Cape, to Newport, to Rhode Island and all the beaches there, all the way up to New Hampshire” and getting grub at Tavolino’s, or dining at Strega Waterfront and Trattoria in the North End.
Gronkowski delivered dozens of memorable plays on the field, and terrific moments off it for the Patriots. He was determined to enjoy himself no matter how miserable Belichick became in the process. Gronkowski never got into any legal trouble, was never charged with any crime, or committed any other untoward misdeed aboard his lifelong party bus that became public.
And he never killed anyone.
Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez formed the nucleus of Belichick’s two-tight-end set implemented at the start of the last decade designed to carry Brady into his 30s and deliver that elusive fourth Super Bowl ring to New England. Those plans fizzled once Hernandez ended up in handcuffs.
Gronk’s toughest opponent was himself. In his younger days, he never knew when not to go balls out, 100% of the time, on every snap. This robotic mentality earned him the adoration of a cynical fanbase that normally would have chafed at his antics. Opposing defenses often chopped at his knees or cheap-shotted him in the back, knowing his history of ailments.
Remember Gronkowski was blocking on an extra point in 2012 with the Patriots up 35 points on the Colts and suffered a broken forearm on the play. He missed 5 weeks. In all, Gronkowski suffered 16 reported major injuries with the Patriots and estimates he had at least 9 surgeries and 20 concussions during his career in New England. In 2013, he suffered a concussion, a torn MCL and a torn ACL on the same play.
The most important number concerning Gronk is obvious.
(Shame on you, this is a family newspaper.)
That number would be “two.” As in, the Patriots traded Gronkowski on two different occasions.
The gravitational pull of the Brady-Belichick melodrama drew all living creatures into its orbit this week as the blame fingers wagged back and forth. Depending on which Patriots’ “tell-all” book you choose to read in full or via excerpt: Brady shot his way out of town ala Tony Montana blasting away with his “little friend” or Brady was shoved out the door into a cold March night amid a pandemic by Robert Kraft, Belichick and a halfdozen State Troopers.
Two of my five deathbed questions are:
“What exactly happened to make Brady leave the Patriots?”
“Why didn’t Malcolm Bulter play on defense in Super Bowl 52?”
You think you have the answers. But then the next “tell all” drops and the “truth” has been refuted by a fourth-hand source.
The circumstances surrounding Gronkowski’s departure are a bit more translucent, but no less clear. The Patriots had a deal with the Lions to move Gronkowski before the 2018 season.
Gronkowski threatened to quit and the deal was off. “Leverage” is a four-letter word when you play for the Patriots.
During the 2018 season, Gronkowski caught 47 balls for 682 yards in 13 regular-season games. Gronk saved his best catch as a Patriot for last, hauling in a 29-yard strike from Brady while being assaulted by a pair of defenders in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIII. Former Patriot Sony Michel scored the game’s lone touchdown one play later.
It would be Gronkowski’s third and final Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.
Gronkowski “retired” on March 24, 2019. He, like Brady, had enough of the Patriot Way, at least Belichick’s version of it. The battered giant’s mind and body no doubt needed a break. The Patriots dealt Gronkowski’s rights to Tampa Bay in 2020.
Belichick’s quixotic search for the next great tight end has produced a bumper crop of mediocrity.
New England’s post-Gronk tight ends have combined for 74 catches, 833 yards and 3 TDs. Gronkowski, who missed all of 2019, has 62 catches, 807 yards receiving and 11 TDs in that same span. That doesn’t include a pair of tuddies he inhaled during Super Bowl LV.
Wanna-be Gronkowskis Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry came via free-agency this offseason. The two tight ends were guaranteed a total of $56.25 million. Gronkowski earned $53.379 million during his entire time with the Patriots.
After Gronkowski announced his “retirement” two years ago, the Patriots issued a 157-word statement from Belichick, calling the tight end
“among the best, most complete players at his position to ever play.” 157 words.
Two weeks ago, Belichick delivered a 1,506-word, 9-minute, 10-second diatribe about the difficulty of replacing long-snappers.
So save a good word, or two, for Gronkowski Sunday night.
No matter which team you’re rooting for, he’s earned it.