Gronk announces his retirement
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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My favorite Gronk spike, from a whole bunch of highlight spikes
Also, this:
Sad that I'll never* see him play again go but happy to see him go out this way. He's on my favorite Boston athletes Mount Rushmore and I don't see him ever losing that place.
Given the reports of him spending a lot of time around Foxboro and working out pretty consistently this off-season, I wonder if he gave it a shot but realized that his body was just going to limit him more and more going forward and that it wasn't worth fighting against that tide.
*Never say never?
Given the reports of him spending a lot of time around Foxboro and working out pretty consistently this off-season, I wonder if he gave it a shot but realized that his body was just going to limit him more and more going forward and that it wasn't worth fighting against that tide.
*Never say never?
True greatness is a special thing to witness. We've been very fortunate to have so many cases over the years, Gronk being very high on the list. Thanks for everything, Gronk.
It is incredibly rare to see the ultimate performer at any skill. The Patriots have had three players in the franchise' history who were the best to ever to play their positions. Gronk was one of them. He will be missed, but he goes out on top. Thanks 87.
Man I wish he got in the end zone on that last catch. Still glad he played a major role in the last go-ahead Super Bowl TD in his last game.
And it’s nice that he was also huge in the AFC Championship game, having caught the last pass Brady threw on the way to the game winning run. Never mind his run blocking there too.
Thanks for all the great memories #87 but I wish you made this decision last week. Maybe Cook would have made a different choice.
Yes. That's the clip I always show to anyone who didn't know Gronk well enough for my tastes.
Brady, Gronk and Hannah but not Moss I’m guessing. Moss had the freakish talent, like Gronk, but Jerry Rice. Also short time with NE for Moss. Happy to see Brady got to play with another Hall of Famer when Moss left. Thanks, Mr. Gronkowski.
Some personal favorite games/plays of Gronk as a receiver.
--2011 Washington game. He was completely unstoppable.
--2011 AFC Divisional game vs. Denver. 10-145-3. If he wasn't Pollard'd the next week, they beat the Giants no questions asked.
--2012 London game vs. STL.
--2012 dominated until Colts game and the broken arm.
--2013 completely torching Pittsburgh for 9-143-1.
--2014 Bears game when he ran through the entire defense for a TD on the way to a 9-149-3 day.
--2014 Colts threw Sergio Brown out the club.
--2014 Denver SNF comeback game. That one-handed catch.....
--2014 Divisional game he got open whenever he wanted to spark the comeback along with the double pass.
--2014 SB he was unguardable as KJ Wright found out.
--2015 season opener against Pittsburgh yet again trashing that defense.
--2015 GW TD against the Jets.
--2015 at the Giants torching that D for a 76 yard TD.
--2015 AFCCG might be the best game he's ever played. Brady had nobody to throw to and he was double and triple teamed but still got 8-144-1.
--2016 4 of his 8 games played he had 90 yards receiving or more.
--2017 completely dominated Buffalo and Pittsburgh in back to back weeks(9-147 and 9-168)
--2017 SB he shredded Philly(9-116-2)
--2018 AFCCG and SB are signature games.
--2011 Washington game. He was completely unstoppable.
--2011 AFC Divisional game vs. Denver. 10-145-3. If he wasn't Pollard'd the next week, they beat the Giants no questions asked.
--2012 London game vs. STL.
--2012 dominated until Colts game and the broken arm.
--2013 completely torching Pittsburgh for 9-143-1.
--2014 Bears game when he ran through the entire defense for a TD on the way to a 9-149-3 day.
--2014 Colts threw Sergio Brown out the club.
--2014 Denver SNF comeback game. That one-handed catch.....
--2014 Divisional game he got open whenever he wanted to spark the comeback along with the double pass.
--2014 SB he was unguardable as KJ Wright found out.
--2015 season opener against Pittsburgh yet again trashing that defense.
--2015 GW TD against the Jets.
--2015 at the Giants torching that D for a 76 yard TD.
--2015 AFCCG might be the best game he's ever played. Brady had nobody to throw to and he was double and triple teamed but still got 8-144-1.
--2016 4 of his 8 games played he had 90 yards receiving or more.
--2017 completely dominated Buffalo and Pittsburgh in back to back weeks(9-147 and 9-168)
--2017 SB he shredded Philly(9-116-2)
--2018 AFCCG and SB are signature games.
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I mean, don't get me wrong, Troy Brown was great, but what was his position? His greatness was from doing 4-5 things amazingly well.
(I assume you probably meant Vinatieri and if not him then Hannah, but still)
It’s crazy that Gronk is only 29. That didn’t sink in until now. Wow. I feel like I’ve been watching him for much longer than that. Is he the best Boston athlete to retire before age 30 since Bobby Orr? Probably.
Gronk, I remember when you were a binky in the pre-season game threads. It's a gift to be both this sad and also this satisfied by a Patriot player's retirement. Thanks.
Edit- I just smiled, composed a text and my phone suggests GRONK in all-caps.
Edit- I just smiled, composed a text and my phone suggests GRONK in all-caps.
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This speaks to my emotions big time right now. I'm thankful I got to see Rob Gronkowski play. On an emotional level Rodney Harrison, Ortiz, Pedro and Jeter retiring hit me similarly. I also had a weird nostalgic moment when I realized Papelbon wasn't going to get another MLB gig. Gronk is a big one, though. It was an honor to watch a first ballot HOFer spend his entire career playing for the Patriots.
Oh, I know it was only 6/100 1 TD but you have to throw the 2014 Cincinnati game in there.
Happy for Gronk, I know he has had injury issues, but hopefully he is getting out soon enough that he can have some semblance of a long and normal life, something a lot of these guys don't get to enjoy.
Not getting to watch him anymore makes me sad, he was a joy to watch week in and week out, in a sport that I have had waning interest in over the last few years. Watching him always made me happy though. Not sure we will ever see another like him.
Not getting to watch him anymore makes me sad, he was a joy to watch week in and week out, in a sport that I have had waning interest in over the last few years. Watching him always made me happy though. Not sure we will ever see another like him.
When the chips were down, we always had a mismatch in Gronk. Dammit, I'm taking this harder than I thought I would. The TD over the top against Seattle will always be a favorite, as was throwing that fool out of the club and "I just juked like SIX GUYS!".
Dammit. I'm gonna miss him. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
Dammit. I'm gonna miss him. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
The playoff moments were great but, for me, I’ll remember Gronk most for his utter destruction of the Steelers. In 7 career games against them, he had the following stats:
41/685/8
Over a 16 game season, those numbers would be:
94/1566/18
He absolutely destroyed that franchise with the 2017 game the perfect example. They couldn’t stop him despite everyone knowing he was getting the ball. And then, to top it off, he Gronk spiked the ball and laughed at them.
What a great player.
I hear ya, but there's something perfectly appropriate about making a huge, athletic, hands-y reception down the field, then following it up with a devastating block to spring Michel for the Super Bowl-winning TD. The two elements of his game featured back-to-back under the brightest lights as he rides off into the sunset.
Probably could have been more specific but I'm speaking of Hannah, Brady and Gronk. You saying Vinatieri brings that position into play as well. Not necessarily for this thread but has any other team had as many "best ever" performers at as many spots?
Leos arguably have Sanders and Lane. Steelers have Blount, Green, Lambert... maybe Harris and Swann.
Feel compelled to join the chorus, because he was such a special player, and by all accounts, a valued teammate, who made everyone around him better. Always felt there was a chance when Gronk was on the field, even when not at his best. Sad, as a fan, a bit nervous for the team - but glad for Gronk going out on his terms, as he seems to have done everything. Dare I say: inspirational.
Anyone who cites a running back other than Jim Brown - I don't know... Ditka was a tight end, so it's pretty clear where I feel that crown now resides. Butkus - yes, but only if you go "left, middle, right" for linebackers because LT, IMHO, takes the slot. If I was to break it down I think I'd be looking for the greatest at these positions/roles - QB, RB, LB, WR,TE, offensive lineman, defensive lineman, corner, safety, kicker, punter, special teams, coach. Yes - I know that subtleties like interior lineman, edge rusher, slot receiver, etc. have come into the game - but these are still the basic positions. The two I struggled with because I think each requires a different skill level would be center and nose tackle - but for simplicity's sake they remain "linemen". TE however, is a sufficiently different beast.
My quick calculations had only Don Hutson at .85 and Randy Moss at .71 at a better receiving TD rate per game. Gronk edges out Jerry Rice's .65. Gronk also had 12 post season TD receptions in only 16 games.
Here are his surgeries since he hurt his back lifting weights in college in 2009 - back, ankle, arm, arm, arm, arm, back, knee, back, back. He also had two reported concussions, and god knows how many unreported.
He's arguably the best to ever play TE, someone who can claim to be the best blocker of any good pass catching tight end. Pats fans have been lucky enough to have seen on their team the (arguably) best players at two of the four offensive skill positions (three if you think Randy Moss was better than Jerry Rice).
BTW, Moss beefed up his TD/game rate by catching 50 TDS in only 52 games with the Pats.
God damn I’m going to miss watching him play, but this is such a smart decision by him. Hopefully his body can recovered from what it has endured.
Pretty amazing that Gronk will go into the Hall of Fame before Tom Brady.
Pretty amazing that Gronk will go into the Hall of Fame before Tom Brady.
Gronk retiring, freeing up all kinds of cap space, allowing the Pats to make corresponding moves, only to have him return for the postseason run, would be absolutely amazing. I don't see it happening but it would be great.
Wasn’t there talk of him going into wrestling? Sounds like the script...
Couldn't you picture the Pats losing late in a game but they have the ball on the 5 yard line. Pats call a TO and the lights start flashing on the lighthouse and then Romo breaks in, "By God, that's Gronk's music!" as he comes running out of the tunnel.
Globe's Tara Sullivan on Gronk's final catch:
"It was everything Gronk is about.
It was clutch, setting up New England’s go-ahead touchdown one play later. It was tough, completed down the left seam of the field while defenders both nipped at his heels and clawed at his arms. It was athletic, moving this tree-trunk like body as if it were made only of flowing branches. It was smart, born of so many practice reps with Brady that it could be effected as routine, even when the stakes were at their highest.
It was real. And it was spectacular."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2019/03/24/rob-gronkowski-final-playoff-run-was-perfect-ending-for-pivotal-patriot/LAxXmm4PdpUVQqNIdQ6GBK/story.html
"It was everything Gronk is about.
It was clutch, setting up New England’s go-ahead touchdown one play later. It was tough, completed down the left seam of the field while defenders both nipped at his heels and clawed at his arms. It was athletic, moving this tree-trunk like body as if it were made only of flowing branches. It was smart, born of so many practice reps with Brady that it could be effected as routine, even when the stakes were at their highest.
It was real. And it was spectacular."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2019/03/24/rob-gronkowski-final-playoff-run-was-perfect-ending-for-pivotal-patriot/LAxXmm4PdpUVQqNIdQ6GBK/story.html
Awesome he is going out without more lasting damage (cause theres bound to be some).
As fans about all we could selfishly hope for is a "Good GOD, Could it be....... is that.....THATS GRONKS MUSIC!" Around Week 10 of Next year.
As fans about all we could selfishly hope for is a "Good GOD, Could it be....... is that.....THATS GRONKS MUSIC!" Around Week 10 of Next year.
I’d also add that he laid a huge block on the ensuing 1 yard TD plunge to seal the game. Perfect player.
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