When somebody says “Gronk,” everybody pictures the same thing: a 6-foot-6 tight end emphatically spiking a football in the end zone.
New England Patriots legend and FOX NFL Studio Analyst Rob Gronkowski was put into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon, receiving a red jacket to commemorate the honor.
“I fell to the Patriots for a reason. I came to the Patriots for a cause. It’s where I belong,” Gronkowski said when giving his Patriots Hall of Fame speech outside Gillette Stadium Saturday. “It’s where I was meant to be. It’s where I needed to serve my time to the game of professional football. Everything, and I mean everything, fit like a glove perfectly after that.”
Gronkowski, whom the Patriots selected with the No. 42 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Arizona, spent nine seasons in New England (2010-18) in a stint that warrants consideration to be on the franchise’s all-time Mount Rushmore of players.
“During the predraft process, the visit with them [the Patriots] was probably one of the worst visits of all time,” Gronkowski said. “I was tired from flying all over the place. I fell asleep in the Head of Football Operations’ room … I literally laid my head down on the table and took a nap. Coach [Bill Belichick], I guess, just didn’t understand at the time that’s called recovery, buddy. After that situation, a couple of coaches then drew up a play on the board, erased it and asked me about the routes. I had no clue. I was tired and hungover, which they still don’t know.x
“Just told on myself. So, basically, I said, ‘Just throw me the ball. I’ll catch it, and watch what I do.’ They secretly loved it. They took me. They knew they needed a little edge to get back to the Super Bowl. Crazy how it all worked out.”
A four-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler, Gronkowski is first in Patriots’ history with 79 receiving touchdowns, second with 7,861 passing yards and fifth with 521 receptions. Meanwhile, he led the NFL with 17 receiving touchdowns in 2011, logged 1,000-plus receiving yards in four seasons and was the 2014 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after suffering a torn ACL in the 2013 season.
The superstar tight end won three Super Bowls with the Patriots (2014, 2016 and 2018); he was active for two of them, as Gronkowski missed the 2016 postseason due to a back injury. Gronkowski reeled in a combined 81 receptions for 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns across 16 playoff games for the Patriots.
One might say there’s a degree of “resiliency” to Gronkowski’s career.
“I am a Patriot for life. Now, let’s fiesta,” Gronkowski concluded before spiking a football on stage.
Gronkowski would come out of retirement to play with Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2020-21, with Tampa Bay winning the Super Bowl in 2020.
Speaking of Brady, the NFL’s all-time passing leader will call his first-ever Patriots game since becoming FOX’s Lead NFL Analyst in 2024, as New England hosts the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX).
