How good was Rob Gronkowski? The former New England Patriots tight end was the subject of NFL conversation this week, first of all when former NFL QBs Tom Brady and Peyton Manning discussed the greatest pass-catchers of all time. Brady included Gronk on his “Mount Rushmore” of all-time great pass-catchers, and Pat McAfee followed up that conversation with his own discussion about Gronk (on the Pat McAfee Show) with Bruce Arians, who coached Gronkowski on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of like, “Hey, Gronk might be one of the greatest players of all time’ narrative out there,” McAfee said to Arians. “Do you think that (there) should be?”
“Yeah, I definitely think (there) should be because he’s such a unique animal,” Arians replied.
“He can block like a tackle. He could catch over the middle, and you can put him out wide. … Unbelievable skill set, all over the field. And it was such a … total mismatch. We thought Darren Waller was a little bit of a mismatch the other night. That’s Gronk every day.”
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McAfee also included a snippet of what Brady had to say about Gronk.
“Rob Gronkowski could get open on Darrelle Revis — one of the best corners of all time — when (Chad) Ochocinco couldn’t, when (Terrell Owens) couldn’t, when other guys couldn’t, Gronk could get open (against Revis) with his size and length,” Brady said.
“So you’re talking about the best cover guy, in my mind, that I ever played against … Darrelle Revis,” Brady continued. “In 2014, Revis was a teammate (on the Patriots), and I would put Gronk on Revis, and Gronk was the best I ever saw at getting open on Revis. And that was because of size.”
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The other three players on Brady’s Mount Rushmore were Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, and Larry Fitzgerald.
Gronkowski, 36, retired from the NFL (for the second time) on June 21, 2022. In 11 seasons for the Patriots and Bucs, Gronk tallied 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 93 touchdowns. He won three Super Bowls, a Comeback Player of the Year award, and was selected to five Pro Bowls.
