Former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski retired with four Super Bowl rings and is undoubtedly one of, if not the greatest tight ends in NFL history.
It has been fun to hear more from him since he retired, and he recently revealed why his first Super Bowl was “miserable.”
Gronk appeared on Julian Edelman’s Names With Games podcast recently and said that when his team lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI after his second season in the league, he was miserable because he was fighting through a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in the AFC Championship game on a hip drop tackle from Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard, noting that the injury possibly changed the trajectory of the game for his Pats.
Does a healthy Gronk change the outcome of Super Bowl 46?@RobGronkowski @Edelman11 pic.twitter.com/gbV55p595V
— Games with Names (@gameswithnames) July 5, 2024
Gronk also noted that it might have been miserable because they were in Indianapolis.
He labeled Pollard a “dirty player” and a “Patriot killer” while pointing out how he also tore Tom Brady’s ACL and hurt Wes Welker at one point as well.
Pollard actually hit Welker and tore his ACL and MCL, while also knocking former running back Stevan Ridley out of a game.
Gronkowski had surgery shortly after that Super Bowl to repair the strained ligaments in his ankle and posted just two catches for 26 yards in the loss, while also coming up just short of catching Brady’s Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game.
It’s a good thing this wasn’t the only Super Bowl Gronk made it to, as the four rings surely helped digest this loss.
