Former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski has called it a career… Again. The 33-year-old superstar tight end unsurprisingly came out of his first retirement in 2020, to join up with his only quarterback, Tom Brady, in Tampa Bay after leaving New England.
The superstar tight end was nothing short of electric and is a for sure Hall of Famer. Over his 11-year career, Gronk racked up 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 91 Gronk Spikes in the endzone. He’s without a doubt the greatest talent the NFL has ever seen at the position. He’ll go down in history as one of the most dominant athletes of the 21st century. Abusing any defender that attempted to cover him or even go up against him in a block.
Rob Gronkowski will be remembered for his happy-go-lucky lifestyle. Never being shy to show up at an event to throw a hell of a party. Putting dents in Lombardi Trophies at Fenway Park. Winning WWE championships in his off-time. Though it would be a shame to ignore how laser-focused he was when it came to football. Patriots coach Bill Belichick never failed to talk about just how smart Gronk was, being quoted saying “Rob is a versatile athlete, but he’s also a versatile guy mentally. He can handle a lot of different assignments.” There’s a reason why Tom Brady gravitated towards him and pounded the table to get him in Tampa when he signed in 2020. It’s not just that Gronkowski is an absurd physical specimen, it’s that he understands the game of football at an elite level.
Where Gronk stands in history
If not for injuries, Rob Gronkowski probably would have shattered every record in the book for a tight end. But he’ll have to settle for being 5th in yards, 10th in catches, 3rd in touchdowns, but first in playoff scores and yards. And let’s not forget his four Super Bowl rings to show for his illustrious time in the world’s greatest sport. It helps when the only quarterback you play with happens to be the greatest of all time.
He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer without a doubt. He will get both the gold jacket in Canton, and the red one in Foxboro when his name is called. Rob Gronkowski was a trail-blazer for the future of the tight-end position. They wouldn’t be looked at as the high-volume receivers they are today without the work of him and his generation of big pass-catchers. George Kittle, Darren Waller, and T.J. Hockenson can all look to Gronk for revolutionizing the position as we know it.
