“He’s obviously the greatest” – Tom Brady calls Rob Gronkowski NFL’s GOAT tight end

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Fans will be hard pressed to find a better duo in the NFL. Perhaps Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, but as far as quarterbacks and tight ends, Brady and Gronk are level above other QB-WR duos.

Having played together for so many years, the chemistry that the pair have built allows them to connect in a way that so few players ever do.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Brady was asked about the future Hall of Fame tight end and stated that Gronkowski is essentially an all-round player when it comes to his position. Brady said:

“It’s been amazing to watch him perform,” Brady said. He’s obviously the greatest tight end to ever play the game and still doing it and again I think his ability to block in the run game, run routes in the pass game, win against smaller players and then he’s very clutch, he comes up big in the biggest moments.

“I think that, you know, we played together. When situations come up, I know how he would deal with it,” Brady said.

I mean, so much about football is anticipating what the problems will be, as opposed to trying to figure out how to solve the problem after the play. I think a lot of it’s solving the problem before things happen. And Gronk just, he knows, I’m thinking I know what he’s thinking, you know, we just done it so long together. So it’s really nice. It’s a great luxury for, to position players like that to play together for as long as we have.”

“I don’t remember exactly how it all went down (Gronk moving to Tampa as he was retired). I’m just happy he decided that he wanted to come out of retirement. Obviously, playing together with him is, you know, just awesome for me. And when I you know, chose the Buccaneers. I wasn’t sure if he was going to come out of retirement.

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski timeline

Having played together in New England from 2010 to 2018, Brady and Gronkowski were an unstoppable duo. The pair won three Super Bowls while with the Patriots and when Gronkowski retired in 2019, many thought they had seen the last of number 87 on an NFL field.

But when Brady decided to swap Boston for Florida, Gronkowski took the step of coming out of retirement to link up with his friend one last time. In his first year with the Bucs, Gronk played all 16 games as the team went 11-5.

His stats were not that of a star in the league, catching 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns. But as Brady mentioned, it was Gronkowski’s ability to come up clutch in critical moments. Whether that be a third down or a blocking assignment on a designed run, or in the red zone needing points, Gronkowski made the plays that needed to be made.

In last year’s Super Bowl, Gronkowski caught six passes for 67 receiving yards and two touchdowns and in doing so, he and Brady took sole possession of the most touchdown receptions in the post season between a quarterback and receiver, taking their tally to 14. This surpassed Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, who led with 12.

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While it is not clear just how much longer either Brady or Gronkowski have left at the highest level, one thing is for sure: they are still a force to be reckoned with all these years later.