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Patriots Hall of Fame inductee Rob Gronkowski joins live!
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00:00one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game rob gronkowski robert good morning
00:09greg what up my man how you doing well congratulations to you uh on a well-deserved
00:17honor thank you my man it definitely is an honor and a special feeling to be placed in the patriots
00:23hall of fame but with so many prior greats that carved the way you know like teddy brewski tyla
00:29willie mcginnis obviously julian going in last year and tom you know going into uh two years ago those
00:35guys that i played with but the prior guys you know the era you know the 2000s era the 90s
00:41era just
00:41those guys that you know truly represented what it is to be a patriot you know those are the guys
00:47that
00:47uh carved the way to you know what it is now and it's just a complete honor to be in
00:52the
00:52patriots hall of fame man and get this recognition well one name tight end wise he left off that list
00:59oh shizzle how would i ever forget him oh my gosh ben coach
01:06we love that oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh the best tight end in patriots history jermaine wiggins
01:18thank you thank you i tell myself that every day and my mother told me that before she passed away
01:24you
01:24greatest tight end i ever see play the game but congratulations jermaine yo yo your your booty
01:31is is pretty massive i can't lie you do have a nice tight end it is solid
01:40that's what my wife says every night but i have i have to say this gronk right because you you
01:47and i
01:47heard you talking about this a little bit and you you never know what your career is gonna kind of
01:53turn into and you talked about how early in your career where you're like oh if i can make x
01:59amount
01:59of money as a second round draft pick you know that would be great but did you ever envision yourself
02:05and
02:05i know we joke about it um but got kind of going down as maybe one of the greatest tight
02:12ends to
02:13ever play the game like is that something that you ever envisioned i i didn't really envision you know
02:20being one of the top tight ends to ever play the game but what i envisioned was you know definitely
02:25making it to the nfl that was the ultimate goal but it was just to be an impact player to
02:30go out
02:31there and make plays uh you know and be a starting tight end in the nfl i never thought you
02:37know
02:37growing up as a kid it was going to be as big as it is now but i definitely had
02:42dreams of making it to
02:44the nfl i talked about it with my friends in high school hey you know i'm going to go big
02:48i'm going
02:48to make it to the nfl it's going to be me uh i just never imagined that it was going
02:53to be as big as it
02:55is now and it's kind of like going into the patriots hall of fame you know as well like when
03:00you're
03:00playing the game like you don't think about the hall of fame you don't think about these honors
03:05that come after the game of football all you're thinking about is how you can be the best possible
03:10player that you can be you know that given week uh and also how you can win championships you know
03:16and win games and that's what it's all about and now you know getting these honors i mean it's
03:21definitely surreal but that wasn't the ultimate goal ever it was to win a super bowl but it's super cool
03:29you know to be getting you know these special honors now and to be recognized you know it just
03:34keeps uh it keeps it going which is which is amazing when you think back about that accomplishment
03:41and and you look at the opportunity to be here with tom brady and be with bill how much when
03:49it comes
03:49to either both what i don't want to get into the bill versus tom thing but but how much credit
03:54do they
03:55get for where you ended up career wise yeah i i gotta give both of them credit you know obviously
04:02coach balichek you know taking a chance on me and drafting me um in the second round and not just
04:08drafting me he traded up for me and the baltimore ravens were about to scoop me i picked 43 and
04:13he knew
04:13that as well and he traded up with oakland to get me uh you know which which was a special
04:18feeling
04:18you know i was pissed i didn't go in the first round of the draft and then to see the
04:21patriots trade up for
04:22me i was like oh i got traded up for that's that's what's up you know at that age when
04:27i was 20 years
04:27old i thought it was one of the coolest things uh but i gotta contribute you know uh my success
04:33a lot
04:33of it you know i definitely had the will to want to be great but you also got to have
04:37a great supporting
04:38cast around you um and with coach balichek just the way that he ran the program you know i needed
04:44that
04:44you know tight-knit style um with coach balichek's you know especially you know such an immature you
04:51know human being i was i i at the age of 2021 once i went to the new england patriots
04:56i mean he sharpened
04:57me right up you know he put me in my place when i needed to be insane with tom brady
05:01you know they
05:02both helped make me you know the special player that i became out on the football field along with so
05:09many other teammates in my position coaches as well they pushed me you know especially bill
05:14especially tom they pushed me to be great every single day and without them without their support
05:20i definitely wouldn't you know have had this uh have had the career that i had i saw that you
05:26were
05:26with bill and the little lady at the kentucky derby over the weekend yes i was i was with camille
05:33as well
05:34uh jordan was there uh coach bill balichek of the unc tar heels was there and it was a special
05:41moment
05:41actually it really was because i really haven't caught up with bill since i've been retired from
05:46the game of football since he's left you know and moved on to coach the college ranks uh you know
05:51we
05:51saw each other at the rose but you know that's a spectacle you know with so many people around so
05:56we
05:56have you know great one-on-one conversations man i mean it was just so good to catch back up
06:01you know with
06:02coach uh with coach balichek and uh it's just uh you know i was always a players coach relationship
06:09and now that we're both years removed from you know that players coach relationship it was the first
06:14time you know that we really hit it off in a different way that we've seen each other throughout
06:19our life and uh it was a special moment in our conversations we reminisced uh you know about our
06:25good times so we actually talked about you know him drafting me uh and how you know there were some
06:30coaches on the staff after my interview was like no we can't take this guy and coach balichek uh you
06:36know called up my head coach um at the university of arizona and and i gotta give credit to mike
06:41stoops
06:42and thanks thank him he went all in for me and he vouched for me hey you gotta take this
06:47guy coach
06:47balichek he's he's a tough sob uh he's one of the smartest football players i've been around he's our
06:53toughest guy on our football team here at the university of arizona and he's the one that sold coach
06:58balichek uh to trade up for me so it was just cool reminiscing about our great times and it was
07:03awesome to catch up with him gronk something i haven't heard you talk about is another trade
07:08where at your end of your time with the patriots you were under contract and bill traded you to join
07:16tom brady with the tampa bay buccaneers can you talk us through how that happened and that's another
07:21sort of solid he did on your behalf because he didn't have to do that no he didn't have to
07:27you
07:27know um i felt like that was the right opportunity for me i talked about it many times is is
07:32to get
07:32traded down to tampa everything checked checked out for me uh you know to go down there and you know
07:39revive my career um you know out of retirement and uh with coach balichek you know it was definitely
07:45wasn't the easiest process to get traded down there but just overall um just him sending me
07:51down here for i think it was for like a third or fourth round pick um you know just to
07:56do that you
07:56know you know it meant a lot um at the time uh but i mean that was just part of
08:01the business at the
08:02moment you know that's business you know with the game of football the nfl is a business 24 7
08:08all year round so that that kind of was just a business transaction and understandable on both sides of
08:14the party uh and and it all worked out in the end for for everyone rob congratulations i did see
08:20you
08:21sit down with drake may last fall on fox nfl sunday what was your read on him like what was
08:28your impression
08:28of him you came in with a very established quarterback and drake did a lot to establish
08:35himself last year but at the time that you sat down with him as i remember they were in the
08:39middle of
08:40that winning streak and he was really just starting the second year search yeah i really like drake may
08:47uh just uh himself as a person uh the way that he grew up kind of reminds me of myself
08:53as well you
08:54know he's got older brothers younger brothers i i i don't know if it's younger brothers older but
08:58he's just got brothers i know that for sure uh just like myself i grew up in a household of
09:03brothers
09:03you know just playing sports 24 7 um and just how humble he was you know and just uh his
09:11morality of
09:12just wanting to be you know the best quarterback that he can possibly be um and just his enthusiasm
09:18for the game of football and his knowledge you could tell that he was a very very smart quarterback
09:22uh when we were just reminiscing out on the field during the interview i was talking about plays from my
09:28days and he knew the exact terminology of the plays you know from from my era with josh mcdaniels and
09:34now
09:34the names of his of the same place but different names and a different a little bit different
09:39terminology but he knew the exact you know things i was talking about even though all the names are
09:45switched up and that just shows how much he knows the game of football and how smart he is that
09:49he can
09:50just memorize whatever's thrown at him you know in the playbook which that's what you need as a
09:56quarterback there's no doubt about that uh but just overall he seemed like a very very great person
10:01and an awesome guy to be around and a great leader speaking of plays as you get sentimental going into
10:07the hall are you able to have you thought about your favorite catch as a as a as a patriot
10:14oh uh
10:16mike reese asked me that mike reese aka uh his nickname mike reese big piece baby big greasy pieces
10:23he likes the big he likes the big he likes the big reesey pieces
10:31he asked me that last week uh and uh um i would say oh he asked me what my favorite
10:38like moment was
10:39drive and i said the pittsburgh steelers drive room i went down with three catches in a row then the
10:44two
10:44point conversion uh that was my favorite drive of all time but my favorite catch um i would say it
10:49was
10:50probably be the one-hander either versus the buffalo bills in corner of the end zone when i caught that
10:54touchdown pass or the one-hander versus denver broncos uh when i caught it and i landed on the
11:00two-yard line and i snatched it with my bionic arm with the arm brace on my left hand tom
11:06was just kind
11:07of throwing it away and i just went up there and snatched it in a one-hander landing on the
11:11two-yard line
11:12and then the next play i got in with a slant route um on the left side um in the
11:17end zone so that that
11:18catch will be uh memorable for for a long long time probably forever one super bowl what super
11:24bowl means the most to you uh definitely the first one because it gets you in the super bowl club
11:29also
11:30is one of the best super bowls of all time uh it it was an unbelievable game versus seattle seahawks
11:37uh but that one i will remember was the best one by far and just what a game that was
11:42i mean julian
11:43with the game-winning touchdown amandola my other boy you know had a touchdown i had a touchdown going
11:48into the first half uh shane green had like what like eight catches for like a hundred yards and like
11:54eight first downs basically it was just an overall great team win and then obviously with the game
11:59ceiling play with malcolm butler you know having that interception but even after that when we were
12:04kneeing the ball you know on our own one yard line uh we started throwing throwing some punches
12:09throwing some haymakers and uh it just ended with chaos so that that super bowl was by far the best
12:15one and also it was the best parade by far as well after that gronk you know what's so funny
12:22is like
12:22you're getting all these accolades well deserved but the one thing that i feel like so many guys are proud
12:29of is to be part of the brotherhood of playing in the uh nfl and what's it mean to you
12:35when you're
12:36when you get that respect from your peers and you get your flowers from your peers what what does that
12:43mean for you as a player when you get those type of accolades from you know guys you played with
12:49and
12:50even guys you didn't play with just respect you for what you were able to do you know that that's
12:56actually what means the most to me you know like getting the accolades you know a top 100 nfl player
13:02going into the patriots hall of fame that's all amazing that's all super special that's all an
13:07honor but what what truly meant to me was uh you know being the best teammate that you can possibly
13:12be and showing up for your peers showing up for your co-workers and having them trust you you know
13:18on
13:18any given day on any given play um and to get you know to be getting flowers from the older
13:24guys you
13:24know the guys that already been there and done that uh that's what it's all about and definitely
13:29that means a lot to me uh to be able to be in that situation and and to me you
13:36know that represents you
13:37know being a new england patriot that represents you know just a new england area as a whole is being
13:43there you know for your teammates and getting the respect from your peers that's what it's all about
13:48wiggie takes credit full credit for introducing you and the girlfriend yes jermaine does he sure
13:55did i gotta give it to him and jermaine i much respect him jermaine played it cool as hell and
14:01that's why it worked out baby you know jermaine slipped her my number i wrote it on the piece
14:05of paper with my handwriting so i can't believe she actually could read the numbers because it was my
14:10handwriting but jermaine it was at the thanksgiving uh turkey basket giveaway you know at the boys
14:17a boys and girls club or something like that it was in roxbury at the um the goodwill i think
14:22we
14:22we did it right there on um melina cass and harrison yeah and you know i just did my pot
14:28you know did
14:29my pot and look they're a great couple and i'm happy for grump you probably get invited if there's
14:34going to be is there going to be a wedding soon or what's going on with that i mean yes
14:38yes i mean
14:39not talking details or anything but that could definitely be a great possibility in the future and
14:45obviously jermaine would be there anybody anybody else on the show that would be invited or i don't
14:51know i i got all these friends texting me that hey uh greg hill we're all boys he's never shouted
14:57me out once i mean i got john jock talking about how he wants a shout out on the show
15:02how about mike
15:02odano he wants a shout out on the show so i'll invite them but they're like don't invite greg because
15:08he's never shouted us out before well it's really disappointing that they're working against me
15:13like that i mean if not for honestly if not for me there would not have been gronk i mean
15:19that's
15:19impressive we met early on i agree but you were there from day one greg we were going out you
15:25were
15:26letting me into your spots you were you were awesome about everything man when we first met um and that's
15:31why we're ride or die forever and uh what you had a lot of uh a lot of dirt on
15:37me about my dance moves
15:38back in the day you never you never shared them with the public so i appreciate that
15:43i know what happens to snitches i am they get they get stitches and the cool thing
15:53oh i also i also want to contribute my career to someone else as well and it's rob ninkovich
16:00because rob ninkovich gave me the confidence every single day from me bullying him so much on the
16:07football field not just in the past game but in the run game when i was tossing him around
16:12like a rag doll every single day you know every morning afternoon practice night practice no matter
16:20what time of day it was rob ninkovich gave me the confidence so i appreciate him you know i wouldn't
16:27be here without him he wakes up at night and sweats ninkle thinking about throwing him all over the
16:33but the one thing i'll say because i remember gronk and i we did you know softball events basketball
16:38events and i played with a lot of guys throughout my career bounced around on a lot of different
16:42teams but the the kid hasn't changed from day one nope and that's that's and i were talking
16:47about that earlier you haven't changed from day one brother you are you're a real one i mean but
16:52some people have somebody talks all about health and now he's selling pizza hut like what's going on
16:57yeah what do you make of that what the tom brady pizza hut commercials oh i mean i i i
17:06represented
17:06pizza hut the year before that in this in the super bowl so the guy just wants to do what
17:12i'm i'm doing
17:13you know so he wanted a pizza commercial after he saw me have a pizza commercial
17:21well have you written the speech yet or uh you're gonna start working on that now
17:26no i i have not worked on it at all yet um but i'm gonna probably have to get on
17:32that sooner than
17:33later because it's gonna come up quick just like this honor it came up quick i remember uh stacy james
17:39the head pr of the patriots he hit me up and was like hey congratulations you you're an inductee i
17:44mean
17:44you're you're uh finalist for the patriots hall of fame and then all of a sudden three weeks later
17:49i totally forgot about i'm getting a phone call from mr craft and he left me a voicemail congratulating
17:55me about being a first ballot uh patriots hall of famer so it comes up quick so i'm sure i'm
18:00gonna
18:01have to start preparing soon um and make sure i get all the right talking points and thank greg hill
18:06for
18:06introducing me to the city of boston thank you greg how's how's ralphie the dog doing
18:12oh ralphie's the absolute man camille oh he was at the kentucky derby uh with us we left him in
18:18the hotel for like a couple hours so he's sad but ralphie is the absolute man he's a champ and
18:24i'll love
18:24him you know till the day i die oh that's great congratulations yellow jacket is next so congrats on
18:31everything brother hey thank you guys much love and uh thanks for having me on all right can't wait for
18:38the wedding yes normally i don't go to weddings normally i don't go but this one i will make
18:44your friend shine yeah your friend courtney yes wow you didn't go to either one of their weddings
18:53but you're gonna show up to gronk because i knew gronk well before i knew them and then when you
18:58tip
18:59the skills you got gronk shimon courtney uh you know it is what it is once a hall of famer
19:05oh yeah
19:06it is what it is whoa you know all right listen rob appreciate you taking the time you are the
19:12best
19:12well deserved and uh always always a patriot all right you know a patriot for life baby that's what's up
19:20all right all right thanks gronk all right thank you guys
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