Players think Gronk gets special treatment and they don't think he plays with aches and pains that other guys do.
You're crazy if you think this doesn't get noticed and doesn't matter to a room full of teammates who all have aches and pains of their own....including the 39 yr old QB.
I'd have a lot of trouble believing that players think Gronk doesn't tough it out... the guy is a beast and there are plenty of examples of him toughing it out.. I mean I can name a few just right off the top of my head without thinking about it
1) He got his ankle bent into an L in the AFCCG against the Ravens, then was playing in the Superbowl 2 weeks later... most men would be limping all over the house for over a month with an injury like that, looking helpless and not wanting to go out or do anything... I remember having a sprained ankle pretty bad once and after a couple days, my cousin came over and wanted to hit some plastic practice balls in the backyard.. I couldn't swing the club, the pain was so intense that I just couldn't do it... Gronk played American football in a Superbowl with a worse injury
2) He's been hit and spun through the air, landing on his neck/back/etc and got right back up and kept going
3) He came back from a broken forearm too early to help the team, then rebroke it on like the first play of the game
4) He took a shot from Earl Thomas that would have hospitalized most men.. lots of theories on the details of that injury, but I think we can all assume that it definitely did some physical damage and probably hurt like a mfer.. he came back into the game!
With Gronk, he is what he is... when he's healthy, there is no one like him on planet earth lol.. and he plays like an absolute maniac, throwing his body around and just playing extremely physical football.. that's what makes him Gronk, but that also increases his chance for injury as well
His contract is incredibly reasonable for what he produces, and that's just from a measurable standpoint like his base stats, which are always more like a top WR than a TE... but his added value in the running game and just what he allows the offense and other players to do simply by his presence on the field is off the charts as well...
If Gronk was a free agent, there would be 31 teams flying personal jets and spamming his agent's phone desperately trying to convince him to sign with their franchise.. this idea that we should just cut him is simply amazing to me lol.. what is with people lately just targeting and going after all of our best players on the team, trying to drum up and galvanize everyone to get on board with cutting/trading them
