By: Jake Rajala

The mythical football player Robert Gronkowski announced his retirement (for the second time) last Tuesday. Gronk is known for having high-end success with the Patriots, winning many Super Bowl rings with Tom Brady, and having an outlandish personality.

There’s a pivotal, fascinating question that should revolve around Gronk after he’s decided to hang up his cleats: Is Gronk simply the best TE of all time? Well, I’m going to outline the success that Gronk has left on the field while comparing his legacy to fellow legendary tight ends.

Gronk entered the league as a second-round draft pick with the New England Patriots in 2010. He really showed his energy on stage- as he celebrated with his family and put on his helmet. Gronk’s draft-day energy was a sign of things to come. Jimmy Graham was also a 2010 draftee, as the Saints picked him in the third round. Similar to many other gifted tight ends, he didn’t have an overly impressive rookie season (excluding TD receptions): 46 receptions, 546 yds, and 10 TDs. Nonetheless, he really blossomed in his second season.

In 2011, Gronk hauled in career-high numbers in many categories: touchdowns (17), receiving yards (1,327), and receptions (90). His efforts in his sophomore season resulted in his getting first-team All-Pro honors and his first trip to Hawaii.

Gronk’s 2012 season was also impressive — as he recorded 11 touchdowns and 790 yards in 11 games. His second-best NFL season appeared in 2014: 82 receptions, 1,124 yds, and 12 touchdowns. In 2015, he recorded 72 receptions, 1,176 yds, and 11 TDs. His last All-Pro season came in 2017 (69 receptions, 1,084 yards, and 8 TDs). Gronk’s last season in New England was 2018 and then he briefly retired in 2019.

Brady returned to play the drums for Gronk, so his long-time pal at TE would return to help him rule the galaxy. The former Pats TE that held a Hall of Fame resume prior to joining Tampa helped the Brady bunch win the Lombardi trophy in the 2020-2021 season — as he notably had two touchdowns in playoffs. Gronk had his last hoorah and won his fourth SB ring alongside Brady in a Buccaneers uniform.

Gronk’s Super Bowl count is very impressive amid the group of tight ends that are in Canton (or on the path to Canton). Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Jason Witten combine for zero Super Bowl rings. Gronk even has more SB trophies than Sharpe, who even has an unearthly SB ring count (3).

He may stand on top of the cliff in the SB ring department, but he doesn’t have the most career receiving yards. He ranks fifth (after Gonzalez, Witten, Gates, and Sharpe) in career receiving yards (9,286 yds).

Gronk ousted 92 career receiving touchdowns, which is nicely the third-most receiving touchdowns ever by a TE. Antonio Gates (116 receiving TDs) and Tony Gonzalez (111 receiving TDs) only have more career receiving touchdowns, but they have also been in a significantly more amount of games than Gronk. Gates has played 236 games, Gonzalez has laced up his cleats for 270 games (yes, you read that correctly), and Gronk has only played 143 games.

I believe that Gonzalez and Gates should be proudly recognized for their success over a long period of time. Although, the resume of a player certainly can’t rely on the number of seasons played — especially if a player isn’t overly productive in the back-end of their career. For example, RB Frank Gore might have attempted to pace with Tom Brady for a very long career, but he also didn’t make a Pro Bowl in his last several seasons. Gates made eight Pro Bowls in his first nine seasons, but he didn’t make a Pro Bowl over his last several seasons. Furthermore, Gonzalez made four All-Pro teams in his first several seasons, but he garnered one All-Pro honor over his last five seasons. In legendary TE fashion – Sharpe also didn’t make a Pro Bowl over his five last seasons in the league.

With that enunciated, I’m going to simply untwine how Gronk’s 11-season career stacks up to the first 11 seasons of the career of Gates, Gonzalez, and Sharpe.

Gronk’s career resume (11 seasons)

• 9,286 yards
• 92 touchdowns
• Four All-Pro selections
• Four SB rings
• Five Pro Bowl selections

Gates’s first 11 seasons

• 9,193 yards
• 87 touchdowns
• Three All-Pro selections
• Eight Pro Bowl selections
• Zero SB rings

Gonzalez’s first 11 seasons

• 9,882 yards
• 66 touchdowns
• Nine Pro Bowl selections
• Four All-Pro selections
• Zero SB rings

Sharpes’s first 11 seasons

• 7,793 yards
• 49 touchdowns
• Seven Pro Bowl selections
• Four All-Pro selections
• Three SB rings

I would say that Gronk should feel quite confident about how productive he was in his career span in comparison to the same number of seasons as fellow cream-of-the-crop TEs. Gronk was flat out a red-zone machine, but he also was utterly successful: a whopping four SB rings.

Gonzalez matches the same All-Pro count as Gronk, but he didn’t find gold/a Super Bowl ring in his entire career. He was even able to garner an All-Pro season in the back-end of his career, but he still couldn’t win a SB ring with a loaded team. Sharpe (who did play in a different era) has a very similar resume as Gronk, but I believe Gronk’s magic in and out of Tampa is slightly more attractive than Sharpe’s output in and out of Denver.

All in all, I honestly believe that Gronk should be seen as the best TE of all time. His resume clearly expresses that he is a stat machine, consistent, and undoubtedly a champion. I believe that Sharpe is the second-best TE while Gonzalez is the third-greatest TE to lace up his cleats. Perhaps Travis Kelce (or George Kittle) will break the barrier established by Gronk in the future.

Let’s not forget that there is always a chance that the 33-year-old TE unretires for the second time in his career.

The post Is Gronkowski the best tight end of all time? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 offseason, he made sure to bring an old friend with him on a “damned fool idealistic crusade”. The ageless Brady brought along his former stud tight end Rob Gronkowski — also known as Gronk. The new Buccaneers TE was on a mission to not only shake off the rust from missing a year (retired), but he was out to prove he could accomplish more great feats in his career. 

The old Pats TE that routinely torched opposing defenses with Brady by his side strolled onto the field in 2020 with hopes of reclaiming the same domination he captured with Brady. In 2020, Gronk recorded a modest 623-yard tally but stood out with an impressive seven touchdown receptions. The Bucs TE didn’t only have a stellar regular season in his first season as a Buccaneer, but he also reeled in another Super Bowl victory. 

After Gronk, Brady, and company squashed the Chiefs, celebrated on boats with champagne, the legendary TE geared up for a strong 2021 season. In Week 1 of the 2021 season, Gronk showed he was still very talented and ready to prove he was just getting in sync with “his second season in the system”. Gronk had a pair of touchdowns in Week 1 in a huge victory over the Dallas Cowboys! He then proceeded to record a couple of touchdowns in Week 2. 

It’s evident that Gronk is still capable of playing at a high level and it’s safe to say we should expect an elite TE performance out of the Bucs TE1 this season. Furthermore, we should expect his 44-year-old QB to continue to have full capacity to utilize his skillset against opposing defenses. 

We know Gronk has a very imposing resume and it appears his outlook is still shiny. With that being said, a couple of intriguing question lies: how much more production can Gronk stack on his resume and can the very elite TE hit the ceiling of being the best tight end to ever step on the field?

I firmly believe Gronk can be an efficient player right up until he stops playing. Well, when will Gronk call it quits (for the second time)? It appears clear that he will retire when his future Hall of Fame QB retires. Realistically, it seems that Brady will most likely just this season and at most one more season after this year. So, I believe that Gronk will play this season and at most the 2022-2023 season. 

It would make sense if Gronk records around 600-800 yards this season, 8-12 touchdowns, and I would expect a 1200-1600 yard, 16-24 touchdown total, over the next two seasons. If Gronk calls it a career after this season, he would keep his third spot in career receiving touchdowns. And if the Bucs TE plays next season, he would likely stay in the same spot, or have a chance to break Gonzalez’s touchdown record by a hair. Gronk currently has 90 receiving touchdowns, while Tony Gonzalez has 111 touchdowns, and Antonio Gates has 116 touchdowns. 

Gronk is currently sixth all-time in receiving yards at the TE position. I wouldn’t expect him to crack the Top 3, even with his best possible outcome. The third-place TE in the yards category is Antonio Gates with 11,841 yards. If Gronk plays next season, he does have a real chance of cracking fourth place by a slim margin, which is held by Shannon Sharpe with 9,961 yards. 

All in all, Gronk will most likely not go down as Top 3 TE in career receiving TDs or receiving yards. However, Gronk will be able to make up for it with his single-season domination and closet of Super Bowl trophies. I believe that Gronk should be seen as a Top 3 TE of all time right now, despite the fact that he isn’t quite an iron man of old age at the position. Gronk still has the record for most receiving touchdowns in a single season by a TE (17) he’s been All-Pro four times in his 11-year career. To top it off, Gronk has a whopping four Super Bowl rings.

I believe that Tony Gonzalez’s production and consistency help him deserve the top spot, while Gronk and Gates are nearly interchangeable at 2 and 3 — especially if Gronk has a slightly above productive season in 2021. Although, if Gronk notches another Super Bowl ring, I believe his efficiency and talent overweigh that of the electric Gonzalez and should help him deserve a consensus number one TE ranking of all-time.

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