It's simply a bad image to portray to your teammates, coaches, and organization. The Patriots usually don't put up with nonsense like this, but because he had such a monstrous year, they will definitely keep him. If he were of less importance to the team, I guarantee you Belichick and company would cut him very soon. Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Vince Wilfork, etc were devastated by this loss, and here they see their young stud partying it up on a bad ankle. Look, I understand a bad ankle may affect your ability to play football more than it does hopping around wildly on a dance floor at an after party, but you lost the game. As a competitor, the last thing you should want to do is go party it up with LMFAO and Maroon 5. I would have rather seen a video of you crying your eyes out than one of you being a fool.
If Gronkowski was either too drunk or stupid to realize that footage of this would get out, then shame on him. He should know better than to something like this. I just hope he gets the message and learns how to be a professional about things.
You have an interesting take on this. I agree with you on how you take little issue with him being able to dance on the ankle (probably because he could not feel it at the time) but I differ from your stance on how he shouldn't have partied like that simply because he and the Patriots lost the game, and here are a few reasons why. That after party was set up weeks ago way before anyone knew the outcome of the game and former players went on ESPN in defense of Gronk and said that certain players almost feel "obligated" or pressured to attend. Another reason why I don’t have a problem with it is because you have to take the good of the player along with the bad. Earlier in the season, Gronk as probably many of us already know was pictured with a playboy actress in nothing but his Patriots jersey earlier in the season so we knew from that point forward that he wasn’t a typical Brady or Welker or Branch type player when it comes to matters off the field.
ReplyDeleteBasically what I’m trying to say is that if we take that side (even how goofy they may seem) away from a player, we might be messing with the other good side (where he caught 17 TD’s in the regular season and 3 against Denver in the playoffs). My perfect example of that would be his teammate last year Chad Ocho Cinco. They tamed him and forced him to comply by the rules and expectations of the Patriots and he was a total bust. They told a pro-bowl wide receiver not to dance, not to tweet as often and just stay quiet and just be another person in the system and it blew up in their faces. Yes I agree you didn’t see Welker, Brady or Branch partying after the loss but would we ever even if they would’ve won? No of course not because it’s not their make-up. Gronk is going to be who he is on and off the field if we like it or not.
During that video you provided, you can recognize plenty of other Patriots “veterans” who are dancing on the floor having a good time that many thought wouldn’t ever allow Gronk to be doing what he was doing. If they didn’t deem it necessary to stop Gronk, or find a problem with it then neither do I.
Lastly my final point is I find it very hard to tell someone how to deal with a loss. We all have our own way. Telling someone how to deal with losing is similar in my eyes to telling someone how to grieve. The season was over. There’s nothing he can do about it at that point. How long after the super bowl would it be ok for him to party like this? Everyone deals with losses differently and this is how he chose to do so and how dare we condemn him for it.
Dear Phil,
ReplyDeleteSo you are saying Gronk felt pressured to attend or he wouldn't be "cool"? His football career should come first, not his social life. The Super Bowl requires two weeks of focus and preparation to get ready for, not worrying about your post-Super Bowl plans with famous musical groups.
I do agree with you regarding taking him as he as. He is not Brady or Welker, but he is a freak talent and that's why the Pats will hang on to him, like I said in my previous post. I agree with you to some extent about Ochocinco, but he also couldn't grasp the playbook from a mental standpoint and had a hard time understanding what the Patriots were trying to do on offense. I cannot directly blame his performance on his inability to have fun, but I do think that may be part of the picture like you hinted at. If a professional athlete seriously cannot perform at a high level because of his inability to tweet/have fun, then he needs to look himself in the mirror.
Regarding the video, I was condemning his actions, but you are right that I didn't touch on the other players seen at the club that night. Veterans like Light and other guys were there, so I guess he wasn't the only one.
I don't think comparing a Super Bowl lose to telling someone to grieve (possibly over losing a family member) is exactly comparing apples to apples. I just don't think going clubbing on a bad ankle following a tough Super Bowl loss is a good image to portray.