Rob Gronkowski has been known to speak his mind, and the longtime New England Patriots tight end did not mince words when asked about his former coach being left out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Gronkowski called Belichick’s high-profile snub “asinine” while lobbying for his coach’s entry into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Belichick, of course, was left out of the Hall of Fame in his first year eligible — ESPN reporting indicated his candidacy failed due to a pair of high-profile scandals during his tenure as Patriots coach.
Gronkowski is an analyst for FOX but was arguably the greatest tight end of all time. He was a four-time All-Pro, won four Super Bowls and played in six overall with the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is likely to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame when he is first eligible in 2027.
Bill Belichick Not Being A First-Ballot Hall of Famer Is ‘Asinine’ To Rob Gronkowski
Even the most biased anti-Patriots football fan would have to concede that Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub is wrong.
Belichick, of course, won six Super Bowls in New England and coached it to three others. He’s third in NFL history in wins (302) and games (467) and is first in playoff wins (31). Plus, he won two as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
So when asked about his longtime coach’s recent bit of adversity, Gronkowski didn’t hold back.
“I think it’s asinine that Coach Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Gronkowski told RG.org. “He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time, if not the greatest coach of all time.”
Gronkowski noted Belichick’s accolades, but he also described the effect he had on some of the game’s greatest players.
“It’s not just that he has a résumé built like that,” Gronkowski said. “But he also has touched so many lives and changed so many lives in the football world, from players to coaches as well.”
Rob Gronkowski Is A Drake Maye Fan
Gronkowski is, of course, keeping tabs on his former team, and he likes what he sees in the Patriots franchise quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye is a prolific runner and is becoming something of a folk hero for his wife Ann’s fandom. Still, there is one aspect in particularly that Gronkowski is fond of.
“The guy throws a beautiful deep ball,” Gronkowski said. “When I interviewed him for a sit-down interview with Fox earlier this year, he threw me a pass, and it was a beautiful pass. It was about a 30-yard bomb down the field. I really wasn’t running full speed like that, but just the way he can place the ball and just how soft it is when it hits your hands, that’s his trait that he brings to the table, that can threaten defenses like no other.”
Maye is, of course, mere days away from becoming the fourth quarterback to start a Super Bowl for the Patriots, when they play the Seattle Seahawks. Yet, only the great Tom Brady has won the championship for the Pats at quarterback — he went 6-3 in Super Bowls, and the Patriots are 6-5 in their previous 11 title games.
Patriots Legend Rob Gronkowski Sounds Off On Bill Belichick’s HOF Snub