Gronk to retire

One of the most unselfish superstar athletes you’ll ever see. This guy never seemed to care if he was a decoy, whatever it took for the team to win. Never took credit for anything, always praised his teammates, never publicly complained and didn’t hold out despite being worth arguably twice his contract.

One of my favorite athletes ever.

There may be some argument about the GOAT vs BOAT. Gronk was absolutely the best tight end of all-time, as in at his peak no one compares. There can be endless arguments about longevity versus peak in terms of GOAT, but I can’t imagine a strong, passionate objection to someone saying he was the greatest ever - for the totality of his career and accomplishments - as well as clearly the best.

Would you rather have an A++ tight end (who can do everything at an elite level) for nine seasons, or an A/A- tight end (who can do one thing at an elite level) for sixteen seasons? That’s the GOAT question.

Tb12goesinya said:

He'll be back by Thanksgiving

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I doubt it. Even if he does come back during the season there's no guarantee he'd be effective missing all that time, or that enough money will be available. Plus, whoever his replacement is hopefully will be well established by then.

Underrated note but I'm glad he's retiring a Patriot and that he'll only be associated with this franchise. It's always rare to see that.

Imagine if in 2010 I told you that Gronkowsi would go to the HOF before Tom Brady?

lancerman said:

Underrated note but I'm glad he's retiring a Patriot and that he'll only be associated with this franchise. It's always rare to see that.

Imagine if in 2010 I told you that Gronkowsi would go to the HOF before Tom Brady?

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Well, nobody back then expected that defending GRONK would become the NFL's version of Hack-a-Shaq.

TB_Helmet said:

His 131 games were better than any other 131 game stretch of any TE, ever. Easily.

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Especially since TE blocking seldom shows up in the stat lines.

Good for him. A great player, teammate, and guy who went out on top.

His catch near the goal line was that last gasp of vintage Gronk in a pivotal moment. It was like a bloody and beaten warrior digging deep to find that one last ounce of dominance and fortitude. But there was nothing left to prove. And likely nothing left to give.

Just like a guy like Martellus Bennett, Gronk has lots of other gifts to give the world other than his body. Congrats to him for moving into the next phase of his life with grace.

Froob said:

What a way to go out with the game winning catch in the Super Bowl! Not sure if he’ll be first but if not def second or third ballot. Can’t wait to see him in Canton.

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Gotta think he gets in on the first attempt, but you never know what the voters are thinking.

Not sure if this has been said yet, but check out these career stats:

79 TDs
115 games.

Rounding to two digits: 0.69 TDs per game.

Nice.

TB_Helmet said:

Not sure if this has been said yet, but check out these career stats:

79 TDs
115 games.

Rounding to two digits: 0.69 TDs per game.

Nice.

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Heh. 69. Heh heh.

Now that it's not hanging over us, I am glad (for him) that he got out. I hope nothing is irreversibly effed up in him physically. Reading the forum article made me realize how much he sacrificed when to us it just said "DNP, arm" or something. Reading that article, I am happy for him, and I hope his life just becomes a normal, super-rich 30-year-old's life, without life-long damage from this game.

Who’s the best arguments bore me no end. It’s like arguing beauty in that it’s in the mind and eye of the beholder. Stats be damned as you’re comparing eras to eras.

I’ve been around long enough to remember when Russ Francis was the “all-world TE”. In my eye, Rob Gronkowski is the best and most dominant TE I’ve seen. The only one who could challenge Gronk as to his impact on a game was Kellen Winslow I.

TB_Helmet said:

Not sure if this has been said yet, but check out these career stats:

79 TDs
115 games.

Rounding to two digits: 0.69 TDs per game.

Nice.

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“6 times 9, plus 6, plus 9.”

Thanx Rob for everything you did for the Pats.I am lucky to follow his entire career full of devotion,joy and happiness.87 always will be associated to me with Gronkowski. Really stellar part of The Patriots' history.

supafly said:

Gotta think he gets in on the first attempt, but you never know what the voters are thinking.

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I personally have decided to stop using the term “first ballot” because it just fuels the preposterous self-importance attitude of Hall voters. Ron Borges votes who gets into the Hall and Bill Belichick doesn’t. That sounds right, right?

The article published in January was a good glimpse into the mindless idiocy that these voters have. They know someone is a Hall of Fame player by all standards but want to put their little ego-centric number on how many ballots it will take, as though the Hall is their personal ranking system rather than a simple question of yes or no.

But hey, at least it’s not at baseball’s level. Harold Baines is a Hall of Fame player...lol.

Deus Irae said:

Gronk is the Randy Moss of TEs in terms of being clearly the best talent to ever play, b
ut
he doesn't have the negatives that keep Moss at #2 behind Rice instead of #1 overall.

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You compared Gronkowski to Shaq in a previous post, I think this is a more apt comparison. Both had unbelievable talent and both had fabulous football smarts. Despite his (carefully constructed) “goofy brand name”, Gronkowski is really super smart even off the field. What receiver or TE picks up Brady’s offense so effortlessly? What other athlete invests 100% of his paychecks and lives on money from endorsements? Plus, clearly he was smart enough to learn from TB (who had a few early wild child moments himself), and what modern football player has established a “brand” better than Gronk? I guess you never know (and I’ve wrong before) but I expect great things of him in his post football career.

Gronk, thanks for all that you have done for the Pats, and God Bless in you future endeavors.

QuantumMechanic said:

In his prime, Gronk was absolutely better than any TE (and perhaps better than any non-QB offensive player) ever. However, he only played 115 regular season games (and 131 games overall).

By contrast, Gonzales played 270 regular season games (and 277 games overall) and Gates played 236 games (and 248 games overall).

Measured by games, Gates and Gonzales played about twice as long as Gronk did. A player, no matter how great he is, can't help the team if he's not on the field.

So I don't think it's an easy call to say Gronk is the GOAT. Prime vs. prime, absolutely, without question he is. But the shortness of his career relative to the other great TEs makes the GOAT title a much closer thing.

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Gonzales, at least, arguably was able to play twice as long because he only played half as much of the game.

AndyJohnson said:

Manning earned his way onto that list with 2 rings.

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No he didn't. He was utterly superfluous in both SBs.

True to form, Gronk went out...

Awesome draft pick

After the 2011 season I was expecting more dominance like it, but injuries had their way, still sad about that, was a monster that year

Gronk goes out on his own terms in his own way.. Did BB know this was in the cards???

Aside from his personna on and off the field, his unselfish performance in a variety of on field roles. Always found his claim amazing that he lived off of his endorsements and invested his NFL Salary.. during his time with the Pats his cash earnings were 53 million.. so hopefully he did what he said and has a good financial team behind him,now he can do whatever he wants..