Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski admitted he’s liking the new side he’s seeing from Bill Belichick.
Ever since “The Roast of Tom Brady” Netflix special, things have been different for the former coach and de facto general manager of the Patriots. He’s cracking jokes, giving out hugs and showing a willingness to cut it loose and have a little fun.
In May, he was taking shots onstage with his former players. That’s the version of the legendary coach Gronkowski loved to see.
“I think Coach Belichick may be my new favorite person ever since The Roast,” said Gronkowski, when appearing on “Games with Names” with Julian Edelman. “If he just showed that personality at all while he was a head coach, I still think we would be playing for the New England Patriots and winning Super Bowls.”
Gronk is BACK! 4x champ, @RobGronkowski joins us in the Boston studio today! We’re breaking down the 2011 AFC Divisional Round game between the @Broncos and @Patriots
🎧: Audio episode out now on Spotify and Apple!
📺: Episode drops on YouTube at 3:00pm EST. pic.twitter.com/FFpfmeAR7o— Games with Names (@gameswithnames) June 25, 2024
Gronkowski has been open in the past that playing with the Patriots wasn’t always fun. During an appearance on the “Up & Adams” podcast in early 2023, he explained that losing in New England felt like a “super depression” and even winning felt like losing the next day.
He wasn’t taking a shot at the organization but merely expressing how he felt at the time.
Belichick ran his ship a certain way, and it was obviously effective considering the team won six Super Bowls. Yet, an argument could be made that those ways fell out of favor in his final years in New England.
The hard-nosed way of doing things wasn’t accepted the same when the team was losing football games.