The Patriots 25-point comeback in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons was the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, but superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski was forced to watch their offensive explosion led by Tom Brady from the sidelines.
Gronkowski is recovering from back surgery, the third of his career, and some have speculated that we may be nearing the end of the Gronk Era. That won’t be the case if Gronkowski has his way, as he spoke with ESPN’s Cari Champion recently and insisted that he plans on being completely ready for the start of 2017.
“Yes, for sure [I’ll be ready for the start of the season],” said Gronkowski. “Yes. No doubt.”
When healthy, Gronkowski is one of the NFL’s most dominant forces. In his three most recent “healthy” seasons (playing in at least 12 games), he’s gone over 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns in each. Adding that back to the Patriots offense would make Tom Brady’s life much easier, which is scary considering he’s coming off of one of his most efficient seasons ever.
Gronkowski also added that it was “great” watching Roger Goodell have to hand the trophy over and it made him extremely happy for Tom Brady. When asked if the Super Bowl win would soften Patriots’ fans feelings towards the commissioner, Gronkowski didn’t think so and said it’ll be a long time before Patriots fans let the DeflateGate thing go.
“The fans are nuts,” Gronkowski said. “They are wild. They have the Patriots’ back no matter what. They have Tom’s back, I’m telling you. [Goodell] won’t get through the highway if the fans saw him. I don’t even think he can land in the airport in Boston, because Patriots fans are the best fans. They’re the most loyal fans. I’m telling you, they might just carry out Roger themselves.”
As for his future, as he hopes he has many more years left on the gridiron.
“I’m not really sure [when I’ll retire],” Gronkowski said. “I still love playing the game, and as of right now, I want to play as long as I can possibly play. My mindset is to keep on going.”
