Future Of Gronk

[Tunescribe]

I'm an ass because you make things up. Ok

You do not have one credible source of this. I.e. You made it up. (Technically you said you think you remember hearing it, which i consider the same thing)

Speaking of dopey you are arguing that you don't know that the injuries had anything to do with conditioning, no nothing about what his regimen is, and are saying maybe they are related.

If you want to say that having his ankle twisted on a tackle and his back injury due to a hit that caused a contusion of the lung and a herniated disc are due to conditioning you are only fooling yourself.

Is conditioning important and helpful in injury prevention? Of course. Does it have anything to do with these injuries. No.

As to your comment about the hamstring causing "unnecessary multi week headache" I'm sorry your feelings were hurt.

I made nothing up, you haughty twit. If/when I can find links I'll have them faxed to you. Meanwhile, please consider returning to the AndyJohnson of old who respectfully engaged discourse on this board, disagreement or no, without descending into petulant upsmanship. I kind of miss that guy, haven't the foggiest what became of him.

 

[Biffins]

Enough already. People here talk like Gronk is Glass. The fact is that he's played in almost 80% of the possible regular season games over his 7 year career. (88/112) In four of those years, he missed only 2 games. I wonder what the rate of other top TE are in missing games. I know Witten is kind of indestructable but others like Graham, or Kelcey have missed a number of games over their careers too, yet they are not talked about in the same way. Here's why.

For most of his career Gronk has been a critical IMPACT player. He will always be in the argument as being the most impactful non-QB offensive player in the league. So until very recently every game Gronk DOESN'T play is magnified (to the fan and mediot world), compared to other non-QB injuries. He makes such a great impression when he plays, we miss him when he's gone.

Games lost to his broken arm and knee injuries are perfectly understandable. They would have happened to anyone. The back , however, is a different story. He's had a history of back issues BOTH in college and in the pros (Thank god, btw, if he hadn't missed most of his senior year, there would have been no chance for the Pats to get him) So any questions about his back are legitimate concerns, and the Pats have addressed them with his incentive laden extension. If he plays he's be a top paid TE, if he doesn't it will be less. If the back continues to be a chronic problem, then, if I read the contract correctly, the Pats can cut him anytime over the next 3 years without much of a cap implication.

Not only that, the Pats, over the years, have elevated their overall offensive talent so that they are a lot less Gronk dependent, than they were previously.

BTW- thinking about Gronk reminded me of a similar situation of mine in college. I took political science course in SE Asian government (mostly India). I liked the course, so I was very much involved in class dicussion, etc. I made a great impression on the Prof.

However I later stopped going to the class, (poker, new girlfriend, and lacrosse) so despite a B+ on the midterm, A- on the paper, and B on the final, I got a C- for the course. When I went to the Prof to ask why, he told me that he noticed that I wasn't coming to class, so he knocked down my grade. I was about to complain, when I realized he was right. He had every right to do what his did. It was my fault.

I was reminded of it because it was kind like Gronk. I think the reason it has become common wisdom that "you can't count on Gronk" is because he makes such a big impact whenever he DOES play (which is 80% of the time). And yeah, I know its a stretch of a comparison, but how often does one get a chance to draw a comparison between yourself and the GRONK.

 

[Ring 6]

I made nothing up, you haughty twit.

Nice. Glad to see you have nothing better than name calling to resort to.

If/when I can find links I'll have them faxed to you. Meanwhile, please consider returning to the AndyJohnson of old who respectfully engaged discourse on this board, disagreement or no, without descending into petulant upsmanship. I kind of miss that guy, haven't the foggiest what became of him.

Funny.

I didn't ask you to call a lung contusion or an ankle injured by a defender grabbing and twisting it a criticism of the conditioning of a player.
My response, as always, is as "respectful" as the post I am responding to.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I think Gronk is a player that will drop off quickly & without warning. His body has already been punished alot. Hopefully we get 3 more playoff runs out of him

I think when you're in your 20s and 30s you can absorb way more tequila.

oh, you mean injuries. N/m.

 

[PatsBoy12]

This, at least on paper, is the most versatile O we've had in quite some time. I believe we can survive again without him. But another season where he misses time could spell his end in NE when the contract is up. I just don't see NE meeting his demands otherwise.

 

[Simpelton]

I was reminded of it because it was kind like Gronk. I think the reason it has become common wisdom that "you can't count on Gronk" is because he makes such a big impact whenever he DOES play (which is 80% of the time).

]I see a comparison to Kevin Youkilis. Great player. One of the best at what he did, very versatile, and at the top of his craft for awhile. Then he started going from "elite," to "elite when healthy" to "elite if healthy," and if you don't grasp the critical distinction between those three states, then take awhile to think of the implications of players in each of those situations.

Because not long after putting himself in "elite if healthy" status, Youkilis was out of the league. I'd say it took less than 48 months to go from one of the league's best first basemen to simply gone.

Right now, Gronk is "elite if healthy." He's been "elite when healthy" for many of the prior few years, but missing half a season puts you in "elite if healthy" status until you prove you deserve better. And those guys can evaporate in pretty short order once they reach that level of fragility. Or they can linger in that status for as long as they're paid. Or they can recover and have more fully productive seasons, but that one's pretty rare unless they do a lot of things right.