There’s no reason to lionize Rob Gronkowski completely as he hobbles off to a fist-pump-filled retirement. That party cruise he ran a few years ago had its cringe-inducing moments, and Gronk did as much to embolden a certain kind of bro culture as he did to change the way tight end was played in the NFL.
But for all we know about him, he actually may be the goofy, rambunctious-but-ultimately sweet golden retriever he’s made out to be. His girlfriend, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Camille Kostek, describes her time with him as mostly “Snuggles and movies” (though that’s during the season and Gronk won’t have a season now, so …) And Tom Brady’s daughter lovingly calls him “Gronky.” He can’t be all that bad, right?
What we know for certain is that, over a prolific nine-year career, he imbued the Patriots with life. He made a ruthlessly efficient machine of an organization seem slightly less rigid. He gave a relentlessly bland quarterback the hint of a personality, just be being in the same vicinity as him. He saved an untold number of media sessions that otherwise would have just been filled with platitudes and numbing phrases like “do your job” and “we’re on to Buffalo” and “do your job of going on to Buffalo.”
Gronkowski is almost assuredly a first-ballot Hall of Famer and arguably the best tight end to ever play the game, but this feels like the very beginning for him — and also like whatever comes next may stray far from the football field. He could try acting. And he loves Family Feud more than anyone should, so maybe he could host that. WWE makes sense although that, too, would be difficult on his body. But regardless, the options seem endless. Gronk is staying in your life, some how, some way.
As for what the Patriots will do … that’s a trickier question. New England could look to the draft to replace him. And nobody in recent years has been better at pulling off trades than Bill Belichick (or at most other things pertaining to building and coaching football teams.) Given how limited he was by a string of injuries — you remember that final play against the Dolphins, right? — it might not be a stretch to replace Gronk’s production in the passing game. The Patriots almost assuredly won’t find a player who also dominates at the line of scrimmage, but they’ll find a way to make it all work. They always do.
What won’t be so easily replaced — and what can’t be easily quantified or qualified in the first place — is Gronk’s presence. We laugh at it all from afar, but it’s not difficult, at all, to see Gronk’s exuberance as integral for a locker room that otherwise might wilt under the pressure of playing for the greatest coach of all time and with the most accomplished QB of all time, both of whom are quite demanding. The Patriots like to present a no-nonsense front, wherein every player dutifully plays his role and finds fulfillment in it but that’s not, generally, how any of this works. Chemistry among 50 highly paid athletes, all of whom are driven to some extent by ego, is a delicate thing. It would certainly help to have a guy like Gronk around: a behemoth at his position who remained upbeat through injuries that would have dragged others down.
Belichick rarely ever really says anything, at least about the personalities on his team. But here he is describing Gronkowski in a statement released by the Patriots:
“In the ultimate team sport, Rob was a great, great teammate. His production spoke for itself, but his daily attitude, unmistakably positive energy wherever he went and toward whoever he touched will never be forgotten.”
It feels like Belichick knows as much and is signaling it to the players on his roster. Here again, though, Gronkowski is impossible to replace: He could get away with dancing through the room on a day when others were down because he could, every player knew, also be the one to make the plays that would win the Super Bowl.
He was irrepressible, always, like no other player we’ve ever seen.
