How Good Was Rob Gronkowski Actually

He's the greatest quarterback of all time's most trusted weapon, but also one of the wildest party animals in league history. So just how good was Rob Gronkowski actually? Growing up in a small village in New York, Rob was born into a family where two things were certain. He was going to play sports, and he was going to be tough as nails. Rob was the second youngest of five brothers, and regardless of age, they refused to take it easy on each other. As Gronk had said, there were brawls every day. Every day, they were just full-on fistfights. In addition to being extremely aggressive, to say the Gronkowski family was athletic wouldn't be doing them justice. Rob's dad played college football at Syracuse. His great-grandfather was an Olympic cyclist, who at one point held five world records. Three of his brothers, Dan, Chris, and Glenn, played in the NFL, and his oldest brother, Gordy Jr., played professional baseball. As sports came second nature to him, Rob played just about everything growing up, with plenty of fighting experience. Of course, he played hockey until he was 14. Then in high school, he was the center on the basketball team, first baseman on the baseball team, and tight end and defensive end on the football team. But it was Gronk's junior season when his football career really began to take off. He was dominant on both sides of the ball, catching 36 passes for 648 yards and 7 touchdowns, while mixing in 73 tackles and 6 sacks, on his way to being named second-team All-State. Right when it looked like Rob had it all figured out, his family moved to Pittsburgh before his senior year. The change threw him off his game, as he finished his senior season with just eight catches for 152 yards. Although he struggled to find a groove on the football field, Gronk that year became a showstopper on the basketball court. A long-time Pittsburgh sports reporter said, When I saw Gronkowski on the court, that's when my jaw dropped. It's a quarter into the game, and I turned to my wife and said, You see that kid? He's gonna be in the NFL. Gronk's out-of-this-world athleticism, for someone his size, led college recruiters to see past his disappointing football season, and still rate him a four-star recruit and top five tight end in the nation. Rob had colleges from all over the country begging him to choose them. But Gronk, being Gronk, had priorities outside of just their football program, on the college recruitment process. Gronk's dad said, Rob had something like 65 scholarship offers, and I asked, Where are you going? Syracuse? Ohio State? And he said, University of Arizona. And I asked, Why there? He said, Dad, if you ever went to a pool party at Arizona, you'd understand. Thanks to a one-of-a-kind, but so on-brand reason, Gronk headed off to Tucson to play his college ball for the Wildcats. As a freshman at Arizona, the pressure was on Gronk to show that his high school senior season was a fluke, and he was more than just an athletic party animal. Gronk rose to the occasion, catching 28 passes for 525 yards and six touchdowns. He led the team in yards per reception at 18.8, and his receiving yards set a school record for most by a freshman in a single season. But Gronk was just getting started. He took this momentum and built off it in his sophomore season. Despite missing the first three games of the year, Gronk still finished with 47 catches for 672 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns. This helped him earn the prestigious honor of being named an AP Third Team All-American. Then, with his junior year set to be his time to shine on the national stage, Gronk faced a devastating setback. A herniated disc would force him into back surgery and keep him from playing a single down of football that season. Not only was it a bummer, but after his stock plummeted, Gronk shocked the world. He voluntarily left college and declared for the NFL Draft. There was a ton of uncertainty swirling around Gronk. He had the build and athleticism of a tight end constructed in a lab and was unstoppable his sophomore season, which screamed first-round pick. But at the same time, he only played 22 games in college and was coming off a very serious injury, which screamed potential bust. As a result of these conflicting narratives, nobody knew when Gronk would hear his name called by the commissioner. And then it happened. In the second round, the New England Patriots traded up to Rob Gronkowski with the 42nd pick. He went into his rookie season determined to prove the Patriots right for taking a chance on a guy every other team was afraid to use a top pick on. And with that fire lit within him, he quickly earned his way into Tom Brady's good graces. The peak of Gronk's season came during a Week 10 game against the Steelers when he caught three touchdown passes, becoming the youngest rookie in NFL history to do so in a single game. He finished the year with 42 receptions for 546 yards and 10 touchdowns, while being named to the all-rookie team. Filled with confidence from his impressive rookie campaign, Gronk's second season in 2011 was one that football fans will never forget. From the first snap of the year, it was crystal clear that he was a man on a mission. In the first three games of the season, Gronk put opposing teams on notice as he caught five touchdowns in that stretch. And this red-hot start wasn't just luck. Throughout the entire season, Gronk was unstoppable, treating defenders like ragdolls and constantly getting open. By the end of the year, he had set an NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end, with 1,327, and became the first tight end to ever solely lead the league in touchdown receptions, with 17. He was also fifth in receptions among any position, with 90 in total. To this day, it is the single greatest season ever by a tight end, and it may never be topped. In addition to being a magical year for Gronk, it was also nearly one for the Patriots. New England made it all the way to the Super Bowl before barely losing to the Giants in the big game. Gronk had shown the Patriots he was so valuable in only two seasons that they needed to make sure he didn't play for another team for the foreseeable future. So during the 2012 offseason, they signed him to a six-year, $54 million contract extension, which at the time was the largest ever for a tight end. Then, just like in college, right when it seemed like Gronk was on a roll, injuries brought the game to a screeching halt. Between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, he only played a combined 18 games because of a variety of medical reasons, such as a broken arm, infection in his forearm, a spinal issue that required another back surgery, and a torn ACL and MCL. His calling card was a wrecking ball style of play. It didn't matter who was standing in front of him, Gronk was going to run at them full speed with zero regard for anyone's safety. Unfortunately, that also included himself. Some players go their entire career without suffering that many injuries, so the fact that Gronk had all of that happen in a two-year stretch explains why people had concerns about him being able to return to form. The thing is, Gronk isn't like most other players, and he further proved this with his 2014 comeback tour. That season, he caught 82 passes for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns, becoming the first tight end to catch at least 10 touchdowns in four different seasons, and he managed to accomplish this after just five seasons, even with all of the injuries. On top of his individual success that year, Gronk played a major role in the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, the first ring of his career. After unanimously being named First Team All-Pro, he officially capped off the perfect comeback tour by winning the Comeback Player of the Year award. The 2015 season was more of the same for Gronk, who again broke the 1,000-receiving-yard-and-10-touchdown reception mark on his way to being named First Team All-Pro yet again. As if anyone needed more proof, it cemented the dominance he had on the game while he was in his prime, bouncing off defenders like a bull in a china shop on his way to the endzone. Yet again, this playstyle didn't come without setbacks. The following year, just like clockwork, a back injury derailed his goal of putting together a third straight successful season. In 2016, he only played eight games before being placed on the injured reserve to undergo yet another back surgery. Despite losing their do-it-all tight end, the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl, giving Gronk his second ring. At this point, people knew better than to doubt his comeback following surgery. So his 2017 campaign came as no surprise when he had 69 receptions for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns, which led to Gronk being First Team All-Pro for a fourth time. He also did everything he could in that year's Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, finishing the game with 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In 2018, Gronk and the Patriots set out to avenge their loss and return to glory once more. However, a nagging back injury throughout the regular season limited Gronk, forcing him to miss three games and crippling his athleticism in the ones he did play in. Despite that, he fought through a long, painful season and was rewarded with his third Super Bowl ring as the Patriots beat the Rams 13-3. Towards the beginning of the following offseason, Gronk shocked the entire sports world. On March 24th, 2019, he announced his retirement from the NFL with an Instagram post. At the age of just 29 and having played only nine seasons, Gronk simply had enough. Even though these facts don't come close to telling the full story, Gronk cited the toll that the countless injuries he suffered over his career had taken on both his body and his mind. And in his mind, he had accomplished everything he could have asked for by winning three Super Bowls. This was his way of going out on top and doing so on his own terms. However, the following offseason, Gronk's old best friend from New England decided it was his turn to grab all of the headlines. Tom Brady was leaving the Patriots to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With this trade, social media was immediately floored with rumors of Gronk unretiring to join Brady in Tampa. After keeping everyone waiting for a month, Gronk finally made a decision. One more ride with the greatest quarterback of all time and the warm, sunny Florida weather proved to be enough to bring him back to the game. When Gronk unretired, he actually had to be traded to the Bucs because the Pats still had his contractual rights. But Bill Belichick and the Patriots did right by their legendary tight end and they made the trade happen. During the 2020 season, now at a different point in his career, Gronk was used as more of a blocker in Tampa's offense. With that being said, he still caught 45 passes for 623 yards and 7 touchdowns. Then when it mattered most, as the Bucs tried to go on a postseason run, TB12 knew who he could count on. He turned to his safety blanket for so many years throughout the playoffs, especially in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs. Gronk caught 2 touchdowns in Tampa's blowout win and also became the first player to catch a pass in 5 Super Bowls. After the season ended, Gronk had so much fun he chose to run it back and signed a one year $10 million deal with the Buccaneers. The problem was, history repeats itself. While the year before had been one where Gronk played all 16 regular season games for the first time since 2011, the 2021 season brought the return of old storylines. In a week 3 matchup with the Rams, Gronk was on the receiving end of the type of vicious hit that he had grown accustomed to giving out. It left him with multiple rib fractures and a punctured lung. Although he didn't return to play until week 11, he never stopped battling. Despite only playing in 12 of 17 games, he improved his production from the year prior and finished with 55 catches for 802 yards and 6 touchdowns. But Gronk and the Buccaneers season eventually came to an end after suffering defeat in the divisional round against the eventual Super Bowl winning LA Rams. That offseason, with his contract having expired, Gronk had another decision to make. Having just gone through another injury riddled season, he realized he had nothing left to give. So in June, Gronk chose to hang up his cleats for good. When it was all said and done, he had won 4 Super Bowls and had been named first team all pro 4 times in just 11 seasons. Because of his early retirement, his legacy will certainly be a complicated one. But there is no debating how incredible he was while on the field. Even with the lack of games played, he finished his career 5th all time in receiving yards by a tight end with 9,286 and finished 3rd in receiving touchdowns with 93. He also showed up on the biggest stage, setting a record for the most career postseason receiving yards by a tight end with 1,389 and receiving touchdowns with 14. In addition to Gronk's otherworldly athleticism and strength, he doesn't go on to have the career that he did without Tom Brady being his running mate. The chemistry between the two was just on a different level. With Brady throwing 90 touchdown passes to Gronk, they combined for the second most passing touchdowns in league history between a quarterback and a receiver. They did this when the games mattered the most too, setting a record for the most postseason touchdowns by a QB receiver combo with 15. The TB12 to Gronk connection will go down as one of the most iconic of all time. Despite the countless health issues and lack of total seasons played, Rob Gronkowski will forever be remembered as the most dominant tight end to ever play the game. So what's your favorite Gronkowski moment? 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