Well, folks, he did it. \nHe\u2019s calling it a career at 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listening to his body, Rob Gronkowski put out a message on Instagram on Sunday saying that he is retiring from the NFL after eight seasons, all with the Super Bowl Champion Patriots. After years and years of this surgery and that surgery, of this shortened season and that shortened season, Gronk is walking away. One has to wonder if he will become the next biggest movie star, the next biggest YouTube sensation, the next biggest anything he puts his mind to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But one melancholy element remains. Gronk will never play for the Patriots\nagain. Gronk likes to party, but that\nthought is as sobering as it gets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kansas City fans will say Tony Gonzalez. Charger fans will throw the name Antonio\nGates into the fray. The Cowboys will\noffer up former ESPN broadcaster\/returning tight end Jason Witten. Heck, Chicagoland will strike back with \u201cDitka!\u201d Other teams will throw in their entry for the\ntight end GOAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patriot fans will yell \u201cGronk\u201d loudly, strongly, and quite\noften.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are they right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gronkowski is 104th<\/sup> all time in receiving yards\n(Gonzalez is 6th<\/sup>, the next tight end is Witten at 21), and is 130th<\/sup>\nin total receptions (Gonzalez is 2nd<\/sup>, Witten is 4th<\/sup>,\nGates is 17th<\/sup>). So by the\nnumbers, the case is a weak one. \nGronkowski missed a lot of playing time due to injury, and he doesn\u2019t\nhave the longevity of the other gentlemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But many NFL experts not only see Gronkowski as a future Hall\nof Famer, they see him as a first ballot enshrinee. If that be the case, Gronk enters some very rarefied\nair, some very select company, and this might help support a ground swell to make\nhim the tight end GOAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gronk is not yet 30. \nOnly two other former NFL players became first ballot Hall of Famers\nwithout ever playing a game into their 30s. \nThe other two players? Jim Brown\nand Gale Sayers. That right there has to\nput Gronk in the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Numbers aside, when healthy, who was Tom Brady\u2019s number one\ngo-to guy over the last two decades?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Troy Brown? Wes Welker? Julian Edelman?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or was it Gronk?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Gronkowski does indeed become the tight end GOAT in the\neyes of the majority of NFL experts, it will have to be based on subjective\nanalysis, not stats-based. The stats don\u2019t\nsupport him. But watching him play\neither does, or perhaps does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gronkowski was the guy who could always get you that first\ndown. He could do it even being held by\none defender. Sometimes being held by\ntwo defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His athleticism for a guy his size is freakish. He could physically do things a guy his size\ncan\u2019t normally do. He was strong, fast\nand quick. He had great hands, one of\nthe best pair of hands of the present day and the past decade. He could make wideout-type circus\ncatches. He was uncoverable. He was a matchup nightmare. He would eat linebackers all day long. Just listen to Scott Zolak during Super Bowl\nXLIX: \u201cA linebacker? In man-to-man coverage? All day long, baby!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there\u2019s his blocking skills. How often do you hear the praises of the\nblocking skills of Gonzalez, Gates and Witten being extolled? If you do, go ahead and tweet your claim. Gronk was one of the best, if not the best,\nblocking tight end of his day. And that\ngoes along with all the aforementioned skills he has become legend over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What the Patriots will miss most is his clutch. His final catch as a Patriot encapsulates the\nclutch element of Gronk perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a lob pass down the left seam late in the fourth\nquarter of Super Bowl LIII. It went for\n29 yards and it put the Patriots at the Rams\u2019 2-yard line, first and goal. Sony Michel scored the game\u2019s only touchdown\non the next play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Last Catch. Brady\nlaid it in there, as perfectly as the GOAT quarterback usually does. Gronk had linebacker Cory Littleton draped\nall over him (but not holding him). \nBrady\u2019s pass was pinpoint perfect. \nGronk extended his arms, caught the ball, then fell perfectly so as not\nto fumble or to have the catch overturned on replay as \u201cnot finished\u201d. The catch set up the first Red Zone play of\nthe game for either team, with 7:03 left in the contest. In what was the tightest defensive struggle\nin Super Bowl history, the Last Catch will probably go down as Gronk\u2019s\ngreatest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Last Catch is what Joe Average NFL Expert, one with no ties\nto New England, should look at as Exhibit 1 of why Gronk should be the tight end\nGOAT. No, he can\u2019t match Gonzalez, Gates\nor Witten on numbers. But Gronk has\nthree Super Bowl rings, three more than any of those gentlemen combined. Call that Exhibit 2. Or 1A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exhibits 3 through 521 (his career catch total) should cast\na better light on Gronkowski. What we have\nborne witness to these last eight years has been tight end masterpieces. Great catch after great catch. Miraculous catch after miraculous catch. Clutch catch after clutch catch. On and on. \nYou\u2019ve seen them all. And you\u2019ve\nloved every one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Replacing Gronk will be impossible. Had Aaron Hernandez not made some tragic life\nchoices, he might still be around. The\nlast previous \u201cgreat\u201d tight end was Ben Coates. \nHe was replaced. Someone will\ncome in and play tight end for the Patriots. \nBut replace Gronk? Uh-uh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Patriots have been blessed with terrific players over\nthe last 20 years. Ty Law will head for\nCanton this summer. Five years from now,\nGronk probably will also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you the Patriot fan will head there, cheer your heart\nout for him when he gets his bust, and reflect on his greatness, something you\u2019ve\nenjoyed so much since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you need to calcify what you know. This is not the last time this next sentence\nwill be typed, allowing for name substitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will never, ever, see a player like Rob Gronkowski ever\nagain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Listening to his body, Rob Gronkowski put out a message on Instagram on Sunday saying that he is retiring from the NFL after eight seasons, all with the Super Bowl Champion Patriots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":12769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1911,11],"tags":[44,8,117],"class_list":["post-22909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2019-patriots-offseason","category-patriots-commentary","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-patriots","tag-rob-gronkowski"],"yoast_head":"\n