The Season with Peter Schrager: Rob Gronkowski

Peter is joined by 4-time Super Bowl champion and 5-time 1st Team All-Pro Rob Gronkowski for a delightful 40-minute chat on Gronk’s career, his current daily routine, and thoughts on his former teammate Tom Brady. Gronk goes in depth on his near-trade to Detroit, why his injury-shortened 2016 season could have been his very best, and his thoughts on Jimmy Graham returning to football after a two-year hiatus.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, Everybody, Welcome to
the Season with Peter Schrager. Training camps are here, all
thirty two teams reporting.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
We've got actual football going on. And as I.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Record this in Hot Balmy, New York City, Saquon Barkley
will not miss a single practice of training camp because
he is already there in East Rutherford signing a very rare,
very interesting, one year deal despite being put on the
franchise tag. I didn't even I gotta put my hand

(00:53):
up here. I'm on Live TV when it happened. I
didn't know it was even a possibility they could do that.
When my co host Jamie rdaul is like, we got
breaking news, Saquon's agree.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
To terms, I'm like a cree to terms to what
I thought.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
It was just you can play on the franchise tag
or you can sit out the season. Turns out there
is a loophole and the Giants and Joe Shane found
that loophole where it's a one year deal, and there's
been a lot of confusion on the incentives on how.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
It all works.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
But from my understanding right now, he has to hit
three different numbers tied to playoffs to hit these incentives
so that he can make some sort of incentive of
about three hundred thousand dollars each for the three incentives.
So from what I'm gathering, and again this is in
real time, if he has thirteen fifty rushing yards soud

(01:41):
three and fifty rushing yards and they make the playoffs,
he gets an extra three hundred K. If he has
sixty five catches and they make the playoffs, he gets
an extra three hundred K. And if he's eleven total
touchdowns and the playoffs, he gets an extra three hundred K.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
So when it's all.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Set and done for you number guys out there in Gals,
Saquon has a deal with the Giants that'll be worth
ten point one million guaranteed. He gets two million right
up front, and then there's those incentives and get if
they make the playoffs and he hits those things, so
he could actually make more than what was the ten
million dollar on the franchise tag that he would have
played under.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
It's look, it's a.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Couple things, and we've talked about a lot about the
running back position here on this podcast. But it's not
great for the position and it's not great for Saquon.
But he does get to play for the New York Giants,
he does get to be there at training camp, and
he does ideally get to hit free agency again next year.
Now they do have the right to franchise tag him again,

(02:37):
which they might do, but at this point, he had
no other options than this or just not play and
not show up. And I think there's something real to
Saquon and it's me coming from a very maybe Pollyanna place.
Like he loves being a New York Giant. He loves
seeing that every kid's wearing his jersey. He loves that
he is a hero to all of these fans and

(02:59):
is so beloved by the Giants faithful that, Like, I.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Don't think he wanted to miss anything.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
And so at the end of the day, yeah, we
can go back and say he should have accepted a
contract that was offered you know that y'uring the bye
week that would have paid him more. Great, he would
have made a couple more million dollars.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, he would.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Have been better off if he accepted their initial free
agent offer before the you know, time for an extension surpassed. Yeah,
he might have been better off financially, but at the
end of the day, he is here and that's where
he can kind of bank on that.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
And I think it was bleak. It was a bleak
situation for Sequon. He was in a corner.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
And you're talking about running back zoom calls, You're talking
about running back salaries just going down and down.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
You're talking about Dalvin Cook being a free agent.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Still talking about Ezekiel Elliott being a free agent, still
talking about James Robinson being signed by the Giants a
couple of days ago.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
And it's not like Dames.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
James Roninson's not going to run hard and try to
take all of Saquon's you know, carries an opportunities for
the spotlight, while Saquon's out look not ideal for Saquon.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
But tip the cap to both sides for getting it done.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
And I got to say, Joe Shane at the end
of this thing, as unpleasant as this might have been
and as easy as it might have been to go
a different way, you have to say that Joe Shane.
You know, if there's a winner and a loser here,
Joe Shane is the winner.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
On this one.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
I have to think that getting it to this point
and getting Saquon in camp and not having to, you know,
deal with this all summer long of where Saquon wednsdays
showing up on a major win, and of course the
Giants are much better team with Saquon Barkley. Real quick,
some housekeeping here, thirty two teams are in camp. I

(04:32):
work for the NFL Network, but I also work for
NFL Plus. So I emailed the great producer of all
the Back to Football Weekend contents, guy Mike Connor, who's
excellent at what he does, and he's got this giant
grid and I'm like, guy's got an idea of like
who's going to be so I can mention it on
the podcast.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
I think it is pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
So everyone's going to be covered, like we're gonna hit
all these different things, and it's on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday is on NFL Network and then Sunday is on
NFL Plus. I will be part of that Sunday coverage.
And I'm fired up because where am I.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Going to be?

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Let's go, Oh jets, I'm there, Let's go. I will
be there. I will see Rogers. I will see Sauce.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
I will hopefully get you guys everything you can possibly
want from Jets camp. I'm so fired up to be
on the grounds in Flora Park, and I think I'm
gonna have access to whoever. So we'll see if I
can get Rogers. If not, we'll definitely get Sala or
Sauce or one of those types.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
But interesting assignments across.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
The board here, I mean, if you're interested, I can
go through some of it. Saturday Lions, Jaguars, Commanders, Falcons, Saints, Chiefs, Titans, Browns,
Bears where Kyle Brandt, my colleague, is going to be Panthers.
Interesting to see Bryce Young. That's all gonna be Saturday morning,
and then as the day kind of drifts on, it's Packers,

(05:49):
it's Raiders, it's Broncos, it's Chargers, it's Ravens, Odell Beckaman
and the Ravens.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
My colleague Mike Garatfala will be on the scene for that.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Steelers are interesting. That's on Saturday. Bengals a little two
headed monster of Tom Pella, Sero and Ian Rappaport at
the Bengals camp with Joe Burrows contract Lingering Cowboys.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Of course, Big.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Money maker for the network and everyone knows that they're
a big storyline. Chris Rose, Brian Baldinger, and Jane Slater
all there. Vikings interesting. Steve Wisch and Bucky Brooks are
both going to be in Minnesota. This is all Saturday
on NFL Network Arizona, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles with the
Rams where Andrew Siciliano and Maurice Jones.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Drew will finish up the day.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Then on Sunday, you wake up early, you get it
on Tampa, New England Buffalo Giants where Sean O'Hara is
going to be at Philly where Jamie Art all my
coast from NFL Networks. Good Morning Football is going to
be Houston. James Palmer going to be there, and that's
an interesting one because Houston, of course has c J. Stroud,
myself with the Jets, Kim Wolf with the Dolphins. Omar

(06:54):
Rouiz and Taylor Rashatti will end the day from San
Francisco and Seattle, respectively. I think it's a cool thing
they do. It's a cool way to kick things off.
But we're hitting all those different training camps this week
on NFL Network an NFL Plus and I'm sure there
will be a million storylines to come out of this.
If you're gonna be at Jets camp Sunday, look for me.

(07:14):
I'll either be wearing an NFL Plus polo shirt if
I can fit in it, or I'll be.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Wearing something else. We'll see. It's been a big summer
for me. I've been enjoying the barbecues.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
And as I've mentioned, football is vac celebrate by watching
as teams across the league take the field for training
camp again. It's called Back Together Weekend. It's presented by YouTube,
two full days of practices, player interviews, miked up moments,
fan fests across the league. It's can't miss stuff. It's
the NFL and we're back, and it's a reunion. The
NFL Network and NFL Plus have us covered all day Saturday,

(07:47):
July twenty ninth, all day Sunday July thirtieth, and there's
also going to be covered.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
On ABC and ESPN.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
But go to NFL dot com slash Back Together Weekend
for ways to watch an idea of when you should
tune in for your team.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
All right, today's podcast. I'm so excited.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
It's one of my favorite guys to ever play football
as a player and now he's become a friend. Super
excited for this one, Ladies and gentlemen, Rob Gronkowski.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
So excited for this. He's a four time Super Bowl champion.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
He was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in
twenty fourteen. He's a four time first team All Pro,
a five time Pro Bowler. He's the NFL Receiving's touchdown
later from the year twenty eleven. He was the twenty
tens All Decade tight End. He's on the NFL's top
one hundred anniversary All Time team.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
No further ado.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
For my money, the greatest tight end to ever play
the game, mister Rob Gronkowski. Welcome to the season with
Peter Schreeger.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Peter Schreger. What's up, my man? How you doing?

Speaker 2 (08:51):
I'm doing good, bro.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Like we're starting off right now with this podcast and
training camps are opening.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
When you see, like even.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Periphery wise on Twitter or on your TV, that guys
are reporting to camp and knowing you don't have to,
is that a great relief? Do you miss like the
first day of camp that was fun.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
No, it's the best relief I can tell you that
right now. I believe that training camp is too long,
especially for veterans.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
There's no doubt about that.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
You're in training camp July twenty fifth, and the first
game isn't until September tenth or September eighth, or or
whenever that is, and for a veteran, training camp just
can become drooling throughout that whole time and you're just
waiting for the game.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
But listen to this Blaine Gabber.

Speaker 4 (09:34):
I was working out with him down in Florida in
Tampa about two weeks ago or ten days ago, and
we're hanging out, we're bsing, we're messing around.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
And then three.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Days later, I'm on Instagram and I look at his
story and it's him at training camp and this is
like a week ago now, and I'm like, bro, how
are you already at training camp. He's like, yo, man,
we have the early game, we have the Hall of
Fame game or whatever game that is, and we already reported.
And my mind was just blown. I was like, oh
my gosh, I'm so glad I'm not at training camp

(10:07):
right now.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Like the Jets guys I know them well, and they're like, yeah,
we've got I was still on the beach there, like, yeah,
we've got practice today, like practice, Yeah, they've got the
training of the Hall of Fame game, and they've got
to be there early.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
I mean, we're dreading it right now. But if you
love it, then it's great. I mean, I don't love
training camp. I'm not a guy that loved training camp.
I mean, I believe that training camp was like four
days on hid like two days off.

Speaker 3 (10:30):
It's just you just beat yourself like a dead horse.

Speaker 4 (10:32):
You're just running into the defensive end every single day,
and your head's just getting numb, your body's getting numb.
And that's why I don't like training camp had just
started now and then it was kind of more strategic planning,
like all right, we're going to hit today hardcore and
then we're going to recover for todays. We're going to
just do seven on seven the next day or whatever.
But it was just boom, boom boom in my head

(10:53):
my body. It's like it's felt like I was at
the end of the season when I was when I
was in the middle of training camp then beginning of
the season. But if you love football and you love
doing that, well, then you're in the right spot.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
I guess. I mean, if you love it, you're gonna love,
You're gonna play anyway. What's life for you like now?

Speaker 1 (11:10):
I think I actually I've you know, for the listeners,
we really had a great time a couple of weeks ago.
You're working for Fox. I know that's during the season. Like,
what's a day like Rob Gronkowski. I know you've got
other business ventures going on, but I think of you
as one of the toughest, most all around dominant football players,
none of your generation of all time. And I'm not
just you know, blowing you up because you're on this
I think everyone would agree that you have that. But then, okay,

(11:32):
you're guy in your thirties now and football's in.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
The rear view. What's the day to day for Rob Gronkowski?

Speaker 4 (11:37):
Yes, Well, first off, I love to stay in shape.
I love the exercise still. I've been exercising since I
was a kid, and the best way to get in
shape is to stay in shape.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
So I was.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Already in top not shape after I retired, and I
didn't want to lose that.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
So I like to run.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
Still about twice a week, workout lift maybe once a week,
do a band workout twice a week. Maybe go do
a hot yoga once or twice a week as well.
I like to switch it up, you know, just to
stay active. It makes me feel good. Get them dorphins
going gets me going. Good night's sleep. I haven't worked
out yet. Usually I love to work out before I
go on podcasts because then I'm wide awake ready to talk.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
I was a morning You're a morning workout guy, wake
up and do it.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, but this morning I got a bad night's sleep.
Last night.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
I woke up at like four am, and I was
wide awake till like six, and then I changed my
alarm to ten. I woke up and I was like,
oh crap, I got the show pretty soon.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
But I love to stay active. I love to work out.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
And then just hang out and then find business ventures
to do. I can't wait for the Fox season to
start up and go there every Sunday, out to LA
and be with the guys in the studio.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
That's always fun. That's such a great family.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
But just stay active and just hit up teammates to
find partners to work out with, find friends to work
out with, work out with some players still, Like I
said Blaine Gabbert last week Down in Tampa.

Speaker 3 (12:54):
So just running around, man, it's fun.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Do you miss the locker room and the camaraderie with
the guys. I feel like that would be the thing
I would miss the most.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
That's exactly what I miss And that's why I love
working out and finding like workout partners.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Like down in Tampa. We have a great crew.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Who's the crew who still gets after it.

Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yes, we got like Camp Braid, Scottie Miller, Blaine Gabber,
then a couple of the Lightning players. But the thing
is everyone goes in, everyone comes out. There's like fifteen
guys that we work out with. It's called a place
called Suka, and Suka and Greek means the excellence of
your body in your mind together to put you to
the highest performance.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
And it just opened up. It's a great spot. I
love it.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
And there's about fifteen of us that work out there.
And there's a time you work out at and whoever shows,
whoever shows. It's not like you know, you get beat
down if you don't show, and then if you show,
there's always about eight guys there.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's always a switch up. All of us are cool
and it's just fun. You get that like locker.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
Room feel, and that's what it's about, and that's why
I love doing it still.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
I always loved watching you from afar when you were
in New England because you had this personality and yet
when it was time to work within the system of
Belichick and kind of get down to the business, you
got down to business and whereas dedicated to the craft
and to the Patriot as anybody in an off season,
you'd be like doing commercials and you'd be having fun,
and you'd be at these different events and it's.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Like, Okay, this guy, he gets it to turn it
on and turn it off.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Was that how it felt, or when you were with
Belichick and it's so strict and it's so disciplined, did
you feel like you can still be yourself and be authentic.
It's just as not necessarily as wild crazy, but hey,
I got to get down to business as football time.

Speaker 4 (14:31):
No, it definitely had to get down the business when
it became football time. I mean, if you want to
have your fun and be doing commercials, be going to
a party, being all over the place, you.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
Have to show up. And that's what it's about.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
And I knew in my mind the whole entire time
that whatever it was, if it was an OTA, if
it was training camp during the season, that I had
to show up if I wanted to keep that train going,
keep that fun train going, keep those shoots going, or
whatever I was doing, or go to that event. And
I'm so glad I did that all, especially in my twenties.
I mean to me, going to an event, going to

(15:05):
a party. Now thirties, it's like whatever, And I'm glad
I did all my twenties. When I was young, when
you could wake up, you can recover from just four
hours of sleep.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
All that.

Speaker 4 (15:15):
But I had to dedicate. I had to be dedicated
to my craft when I was with the New England Patriots,
because if I wasn't if I was showing up to practice,
if I wasn't ready to go, if I was you know,
missing out, misdropping balls, all that, all that bad stuff,
then it would have never worked, no doubt. I would
have been out of there in no time. But I
always made sure I always had a strategic plan. If

(15:37):
I was going to have some fun, go out, go
do whatever, that I made sure that it fit my
schedule right, that I was still ready to go when
I showed up in that building.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, and I feel like you said, like a wiser,
more more experienced Rob Gronkowski right now, like you're looking
back on your younger self saying I'm glad.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
I did it when I did it, because I probably wouldn't
want to do it now. And yet you still do
the Gronk beach party at Super Bowl. You still do
all these things, Like I think.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
It's amazing because this persona that you have as like,
you know, Gronk, this fun. But then on the football field,
you're an absolute badass, throwing guys around, run blocking the
most like selfless thing to do. I guess that was
my question, really, like the turning it on and then
turning it off and then knowing that, hey, I'm doing
some of the dirty work here also, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
Exactly, the dirty work actually made me who I am.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
I believe it actually helped me out to be.

Speaker 4 (16:27):
The guy that I was off the field as well,
because I was doing the dirty work.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
I'm here to do all the work.

Speaker 4 (16:32):
I'm here to accomplish everything I need to accomplish, no
matter what it was or whatever the task was.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
And I'm here to be the full package.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
I'm not just here to go out and catch a ball,
make a play, score a touchdown. I'm here to do
get some blocks for the running back to open up
a hole so he can run into.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
The end zone.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
And then also off the field, go enjoy my time,
go to a party, go to an event, go do whatever.
I was just a full, total package, Peter, and that's
what's up.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
I love it, dude.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
I mean people look at you and say this great career,
but you face so much adversity too because of some
the body stuff and the injuries. I remember coming out
of college, you didn't even play that final year at
Arizona because of the injury, and then you get drafted
in what the second round?

Speaker 3 (17:14):
I believe, Yeah, I got drafted in the second Yep.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
How'd you use that as fuel to kind of motivate
you and inspire you? And then of course always guys
coming for you in the NFL. I mean, I just
remember you carrying four dudes on your back with all that,
and just like you just were a gamer. How did
you use the injury in college to motivate you once
you got to the pros?

Speaker 4 (17:32):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (17:33):
You know, once I dropped in the second round.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
I remember I didn't get drafted in the first round.
I was really disappointed. I was pissed off, you know,
like I wasn't in the best mood. And then I
can tell you this, once I got drafted in the
second round, all that went away. I didn't care anymore.
I was just so glad that I accomplished my dream.
Why would I be pissed off I didn't go in
the first round when I just got drafted in the
NFL in the second round, you know, coming off of

(17:57):
a season where I didn't even play in college. I
was it was one of the best moments of my life,
if not the best moment of my life when I
got drafted. And then therefore I that motivation of not
getting picked the night before, I didn't really care. I
was just so happy I was picked in the second round.
I was just so glad I was just picked, you know,
in the NFL draft, just overall. And then from there

(18:19):
I just knew I didn't really have any motivation because
of that, Oh I wasn't a first rounder. It was like,
all right, it's time to show them what's up. Like
I have that motivation to be great now, you know,
to fit in the locker room, to get that respect
for my teammates.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
You had a great rookie year.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
You had three touchdown catches against the Steelers in a
game I remember. But then I go to the postseason
twenty eleven. You guys are playing t Bow and the Broncos,
and you guys just blow them out in a Saturday
night game, and that was, to me, your big coming
out party. You had three touchdown pass catches, you had
ten catches, one hundred.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
And forty five yards. Do you remember that as like
the coming out party.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
Okay, Saturday night game, everyone's in t bow Mania and
we're going to go kick the crap out of them.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
It was kind of the coming out party in the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
I mean prior to that year, I already had eighteen
touchdowns in the regular season, so I was kind of
a little bit known going into the playoffs. But then
it was the coming out party at the after party,
which was the playoffs, baby, and that just shows I
can last all night long.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
I can last, baby, And that's what it was.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
The playoffs equals the after party, and I showed up
performed three touchdowns. I remember that game too, t ten catches.
I remember my last catch was down the sideline. It
was like the fourth quarter. We were already blowing them
out and Tom called a fade I'll split out wide
and he threw like another like twenty five yard thirty
yard bomb to me all the way out there on
the fade route.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
I caught it for my.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Tenth catch, did like the first down signal, acting all
all cocky and everything. It was just a great game overall,
and it was just great to beat those Broncos at
the time with Tiba, with Tibo on the squad as well,
you know, all that hype they were having, and we
just took them down. I think we won like forty
five to seven or something from that game.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah, forty five to ten. It was. It was a
great game. It was unbelievable. I loved it.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, It's like, do you think about these guys, like,
do you if I named a game? Could you kind
of do that with your mind? A lot of these
guys got like McVeigh. We talked to him and it's like, hey,
can you this play? And it's like yes on this
third down. I remember when we were talking in La
a couple of weeks ago. I'm like, I remember a
Steelers game the Jesse James game with a touch on.
You're like, yep, I remember that entire last drop. Do
you have that memory too, where it's like I can

(20:19):
bring up a random game You're like, yeah, I remember that,
and here's what happened. Here was the storyline going in
or is it just those big special moments.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
I would probably say about seventy five percent of them
I remember.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
Sometimes I talked football with some people I don't remember,
but I mean I played so many games, I think
like one hundred and forty games right around there in
the regular season, so in cleaning playoffs, I think I
played around like one hundred and fifty five games. But
I remember about seventy five percent of them, especially when
someone like you brings up the analogy of the game
of what happened, and that's that's triggering back in my mind.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Of oh yeah, yeah, I remember that.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
So sometimes I can't bring it up, but someone else
brings it up, it starts clicking again.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
But I do remember most of them, but not all
of them.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, all right, so you get started. You're losing that
Super Bowl to the Giants. You guys are are kind
of bouncing into the playoffs and losing to the Ravens
a couple of times, and then finally you do get.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
A Super Bowl ring.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
Take us through your first Super Bowl ring experience and
what you remember from that afternoon.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, that was a great experience.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
I remember my first Super Bowl actually was one of
the worst experiences because I got my ankle blown out
versus a Baltimore Ravens in the third quarter.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
But remember the storyline was like, is Groc gonna play?
Is Groc on a plane? You played?

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (21:26):
I played, But it was the worst week man, because
you're supposed to be there and join the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
I was just rehab.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
I was like hiding out in my hotel room. It
just didn't go as I planned, and it wasn't as fun.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Indianapolis, right, That's where that super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
Yeah, it was an Indianapolis.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
It just, you know, wasn't how I expected it to be,
especially with the injury that I only played like twelve
plays in the game. And I feel like, if I
could go back, obviously I would have done things differently
to prepare for the game to get my ankle ready.
But you live and you learn, Baby, you can't go
back and regret anything.

Speaker 3 (21:59):
You live and you learn.

Speaker 4 (21:59):
Peter and then finally it got to the super Bowl
versus Seattle, and I was like, all right, this is
a game changer. This is a different story. Now I'm healthy.
We just want we're going to the super Bowl. I
think we absolutely dominated the Colts in the prior game,
in the AFC Championship game, I'm pretty sure, Like I
think that's when the deflay gates started because we absolutely
destroyed them. So they had a makeup excuse like we

(22:19):
ran the ball forty times, we had like three hundred
and fifty yards rushing, and Gerrick Blunt had like four
touchdowns versus of them, and then they were just embarrassed.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
So they had, you.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
Guys go to seven, No, forty five to seven, even
worse than the Denver Broncos game and a couple of
years before. But and then I was like, all right,
clean slate, going to the super Bowl. This is what
it's all about. I need to get into the super
Bowl club.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
That's what it's all about. My career will be set
if I get one.

Speaker 4 (22:46):
I was happy. I was like, I'm good to go.
If I ever get traded, if I get hurt again, whatever,
I have a super Bowl. And that week just that
whole Super Bowl experience. It was in Arizona, way better
than Indianapolis. Just overall, just everything went smoothly, went to
the game, and it couldn't have been a better game, man.
I mean, it was a amazing shootout. Everyone contributed. I

(23:09):
had a touchdown. I had about I think six catches
for sixty eight yards. Julian contributed, Amandola contributed, We all contributed,
the running backs. It was like a team game. We
all did our part. And then obviously with Malcolm Butler
ceiling the deal at the end of the game with
that game winning interception. You couldn't have drawn up that
game any more pitcher perfect than what it came out to.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
So where were you and that?

Speaker 1 (23:33):
I always see the footage of Jimmy and Brady and
Mike Gavardi who is the old PR guy, all on
the sidelines, and that's a famous clip of Brady like
just being shocked and Jimmy and him embracing. Where were
you during that the Malcolm Butler pick.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
Yeah, I was just on the bench and I was
basically like a couple of benches over. You know, the quarterbacks,
all the big time guys, you know, they have their
own little bench over to the side, Thank you, Dad.
The big time guys, the cameras all on them, and
I'm doing the same thing as them. But I'm not
a big time guy, you know. I'm just a guy
that does the dirty work. I blocked, make holes for
the running back, catch a pass, catch a touchdown, for

(24:07):
time wherever he throws the ball, and make him look good.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
So them.

Speaker 4 (24:11):
So I'm over on the bench all the way to
the right and I'm just sitting there and I just
I'm just like, our defense is going to come through.

Speaker 3 (24:20):
I knew it.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
I was saying that from the time I had conference
that our defense was was going to come through. But
then they started driving down the field. I'm like, maybe
maybe our defense isn't.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
Going to come through. And then they keep driving.

Speaker 4 (24:32):
I'm like, man, They're just chunk plays all over the
play and then they get down to like the ten
yard line, and I'm like, I still have some belief,
but I might not have some.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Belief because I didn't want to be wrong.

Speaker 4 (24:42):
I'm like, oh, And then I was like, but I
still have beliefs something's going to happen.

Speaker 3 (24:46):
Something's going to happen, fumble or something. And then Malcolm
Buter just came through. I remember I was just sitting
on my chair.

Speaker 4 (24:51):
I just jumped up in excitement like it was a
it was a feeling of undescribable because it's just like
you felt like you were just floating when that happened.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
Getting my first Super Bowl ring, seeing.

Speaker 4 (25:01):
With that play going down unreal surreal experience.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, an unbelievable one.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
And then obviously you guys have that offseason and then
to get back there a couple of years later, and
I know, you think about twenty eight to three. Everyone
talks about that so much. Obviously you didn't have the
fondest memories of that.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Super Bowl Like how do you look at that Super
Bowl win?

Speaker 4 (25:22):
You know something, I didn't actually play in that game,
but I was on the sidelines.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, so like, how do you how do you look
at it when everyone's like, oh, twenty eight to three
the greatest, whenever you're like, well, I actually was hurt,
you know.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
Like, yeah, you know you know something that actually it
stings a little bit. But at the same time, you know,
I said to myself, I'm going to use this as motivation,
like and like it was fine. I was like I
did my part that year when I was on the field.
But listen to this. I was in training camp that year.
I was unstoppable. Bro I'm talking two guys around me,
three guys. I was running by everyone. It was gonna
be my best season ever, and it really was.

Speaker 3 (25:54):
Peter. Here we go.

Speaker 4 (25:55):
So I'm in training camp and then it's versus the
Chicago Bears.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
They come in. They're in training camp and I pull
my hamstring and it.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
Was the first time I ever pulled the muscle, and
I felt to come in and just you know, I
tried going higher and it popped.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
And it was a tough situation. I'm talking.

Speaker 4 (26:09):
I was fifteen days straight. No one could stop me,
no one. I'm talking like. It was unbelievable how much
fire I was on. So then I blow out.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
I'm almost back, I'm getting back.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
I blow out my hamstring again, kind of, I tear
it again a little bit like no one knew. Like
two weeks later, because I'm trying to come back. I'm
out in the field like running rounds. So then I
finally get it healed. About week four, I go out.
This is when Jimmy is the quarterback Stale because Tom
was suspended from the Indianapolis Colts, the flake Gate thingy
that they came up with because we beat him so
bad in the playoffs. And then and then it was

(26:43):
I go in, my hamstring is still a little messed up,
Like it was so bad, Like they tried throwing me
a route in the middle of the game and it
was just like I was running one mile prour. And
then I was like, my hamstring needs like one more week.
And then kaboom, like it kicked in. And then all
of a sudden, Tom is back too, and Tom and
I if in those four in those five games I played,

(27:03):
I literally was on fire.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Bro.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Once again, I left off where I was in training camp,
and I'm five hundred and fifty yards in four games
I have.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
I know I'm on fire. Bro.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, you're twenty one yards per reception that season.

Speaker 4 (27:19):
Yeah, no one can do that. That's incredible, dude. And
if you and I was going to hit a thousand
yards in like ten games, I was on fire. I
was like, no one stopped me, No one stop.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
So then what happens?

Speaker 4 (27:29):
I go, So I'm doing my part already this year.
You know Martellus Bennett, he's on the team now. He's
the first year. I'm showing the way, like this is
how we grind, this is how we get it done.
And then I go up to Seam versus Seattle Seahawks
again Thomas, Earl Thomas.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
Tom throws me.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
A pass, I put my hand out versus Camp Champs
or he's guiding me. So you got the two harriers
hitting safeties in the game over the last ten years.
I probably say over the last two decades, there's a couple,
but I put them up in the top five.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Earl Thomas may be number one.

Speaker 4 (27:59):
And I reach out and I'm not looking at Earl Thomas,
and he gets a full steam of speed and just
levels me full speed, dude, And I'm not even looking
like you know. It was a clean hit, no doubt.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
It was a clean hit.

Speaker 4 (28:13):
And I got up, man, and I couldn't breathe. The
wind was knocked out of me, and I went to
the huddle. Blood was coming out of my mouth. I
didn't even say anything. Later that day. The next day,
I had a punctured lung and it was shooting blood
all up in my mouth. So then I had to
take off a week and I try to come in back.
I'm like I can't move still. But little did I know,
he freaking popped a disc.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
Out on my back as well.

Speaker 4 (28:36):
HEARDing a disk and then I had to go out
end of the season. Right there, I had to get
the surgery. My disc was popping out, So that's why
I didn't play in the Atlanta game. There was a disappointment
because I don't think there would ever needed a come
back because I was on fire that year so much
that we were just going to be rolling. And we
had the two tight ends set with Marty B and
I love too tight and set. You cannot stop two

(28:57):
tight ends in the NFL. If you have two legit
tight ends, it's impossible.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
Let me ask about Marty B. We've had Marty B
on Good Morning Football million times. I find it to
be one of the most curious personalities in a good way.
I find him to be so unique one of one.
And then of course he's got a brother who's also
a big personality.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
But Marty B special. You two together and I'll tight
ends room. What was that like? You know?

Speaker 4 (29:18):
It was, like I said, it was kind of like
winning the Super Bowl. But it was a little disappointment
at the same time because we wanted to play together.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
We were having such a great year. We were with
the Red.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
Zone Force and training camp that year where everyone was
trying to stop us. No one could stop us. He
had personality. I had personality. But when he came to
the Patriots, he saw how we worked, he saw how
we got it done.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
And that's what was so great.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
I felt like we were elevating each other's games and
we were.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
We complimented each other very well.

Speaker 4 (29:43):
If you go look at his stats as well, in
those four games that I played, he was having three
touchdown games.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
He had three touchdowns in the Cleveland game.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
When I first got back to the first game, I
had one hundred and twenty yards. The next game, I'm
having one hundred and twenty more yards. He's having a touchdown.
I'm having a touchdown. We were combining for like remember
that we were talking twenty one yards per catch, five
hundred and fift yards and four games. I think we
had eight hundred yards total in four games together, and
like in like eight touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
I love this. I love how passionate you are. Do
you remember it?

Speaker 1 (30:11):
And it's like it's a s great like no one
ever looks back. It's like I remember Marty being gronk
that season because it just whatever, but like you.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
Remember it, you know, Yeah, And it's just a little
disappointment that I got hurt.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Man, It's just he got hurt.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
You got hit hurt. It this get your vomiting up
your lungs.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
Yeah, it's a little disappointment because we would have had
Marty b and I, we would have dominated. We were
dominating and uh. And like I said that, I missed
the Super Bowl as well, but you know, I wasn't
gonna let that hinder me.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
Man. It was the situation I was in, and I
was glad that we won a super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (30:43):
I got my second ring, and you know, I was
just glad that I got to show like the best
of myself that year to kind of amp up the guys,
you know, to show what kind of standards that we have,
you know, throughout training camp and when I was back
in the field for those games, and then I just
said to myself, I have to win another one if
I want this this super Bowl to count. I said
this to myself, I want the land of super Bowl

(31:04):
to really count. If I really own the land of
super Bowl and show the ring off, I have to
win one more, because then I can walk around and say, yes,
I have three Super Bowls and.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Be confident about it and be proud of it, because.

Speaker 4 (31:15):
If yeah, I got two and I didn't play in Atlanta,
like I need to win one more. And then we
beat the Los Angeles Rams, right the Los Angeles Rams
their first year or second year, they were Los Angeles Rams.
And then that's when I was like, all right, mission complete.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
I got three super Bowl right now.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
And you made the biggest catch of that game. I
think Jewles might have been MVP in that game, but
that catch was you at the end. I mean, that's
what great is looking for.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Jewles dominated that game.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
He did. He did before we get there, though you
lose to the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
And we're not going to talk about the Philly Special
and all that because it's whatever. But what's fascinating to
me is in the story has come out since and
I don't know if you've ever spoken about it publicly,
they tried trading you to the Lion, Like, what was
the story with the trade of the Lions that offseason?
Because here you are, this Patriots legend coming off an
amazing season and unbelievable Super Bowl all this stuff, and
then the story like two years later came out that
the Lions tried trading for you and then you vetoed it.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
Can you tell us what exactly?

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Yeah, I mean, I mean we were kind of having
some disconnect between myself the organization.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
It was kind of like mayhem a little bit. Maybe
I handled myself a little a little wrong. Maybe if
I could go back, I would have done it differently.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
But we'll just say this overall in the end that
whoever I got traded to, I was going to retire.
Like it didn't matter if it was a Lion, you.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Were vetoing it regardless, it wasn't a.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
Lion, I was doing it regardless. So I was kind
of being a little bit and then Bill was like,
all right, let's get this out of here. And then
I was like, oh, the ain't playing no more though,
so I was amping it up even more. At the moment,
I want to say, I wouldn't say. That's kind of
being like a I would say more. I didn't want

(32:49):
to say, but uh but uh. And then I was like, ah,
how can you trade me? I'm retired? And then they're
like and then everyone took it away, like oh, oh,
he doesn't want to go to the Lions, like, oh, Detroit,
f Detroit, and everyone was coming at me. All the
Detroit fans were like, oh, how do you not like
Detroit all this too? And I was like, no, it's
just in back of my mind. I was like, no,
it was just it was just that I just wasn't

(33:12):
going to get.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
Traded Patriots or nothing at the time.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
Yeah, yeah, Patriots or nothing.

Speaker 4 (33:16):
I go, we got to win one more Super Bowl
if I go.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
So how'd you guys?

Speaker 1 (33:20):
I mean, obviously, how'd you guys repair all that? Because
you go and you do win that other Super Bowl
and you do come and play the clutching, So like
that season has to be a little awkward, or is
it just this is business is business?

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Footballs football, business is business.

Speaker 4 (33:30):
Football's football still showed up, did my thing, and we
won the Super Bowl that year. I knew it was
one of the best decisions, you know. I was so
glad I vetoed that trade. And uh football, you know,
football is football and business is business.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
You know, you get over that quick man. In this world,
I mean.

Speaker 4 (33:46):
Football, the football world, I would say, is one of
the kind It's not like being out there in the
normal business world. It's still it's still the only place
where it can be like that old school mentality, you
know what I mean, and then when things don't go right, well,
guess what, move move the f on things need to
and get it right, you know, And that's what we did.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
It's a great message to some of these younger guys too,
because I think we all try to put it into like.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
All right, well, in the media world or in the
business world.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
It's it's one of one football like, it doesn't make
sense in a lot of ways in a lot of
these running backs right now. I feel for them, but
it's also, yeah, it sucks, but that's what it is.
You get to play football too, you know.

Speaker 4 (34:23):
Yep, yeah, exactly, man, I agree, man, I mean it's
a little bit different with these younger guys now. I
mean that's why I love football so much too, because
it's the only it's literally the only place in the
world I would say, is where it's if you're just
not good enough at your job, you're gone and there's
no other excuses. You can't shoe them. You can't, you know,
cause havoc. It's you're just not good enough. You're gone.

(34:44):
You know what I mean, there's no other controversy with it.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
It's the great equalizes.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
They're also it's like coaches don't care about necessarily what
you look like, where you came from, what college you
went to, what size you are. If you're going to
give us the best chance to win, you're gonna be
on the field.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
Yes, And that's why I love football all because of that.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
And I believe then I treat football like I do
in the business world now, Like I just that's like, I.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Look who the head coaches, the head coach.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
I compare like who the CEO that's the head coach,
or that's the owner, and then the people that are
working undneath them. I'm like, all right, that's Julian as
the wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (35:15):
That's me as the tight end. I just compare football
to everything. Now. I love it.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Real quick.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
A couple of things before we let you go, Brady
calls you out of retirement. Was that all along and
like the back of your head or was that one
of those where one day you woke up and you're like, yeah,
I'll come to Tampa, let's do it.

Speaker 4 (35:34):
No, it was I kind of when I retired, I
was a little beat up, and I knew the only
way to get back to kind of myself is to
get away from football.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
I didn't really want to retire. I just wanted to
get away from football and I at.

Speaker 4 (35:49):
The moment, and I knew that the only way to
do that was to retire, Like and I knew.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
It, and I needed a year off.

Speaker 4 (35:56):
And I was like, Okay, so if I take a
year off and I don't retire, that's just going to
be just havoc on myself.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Why aren't you coming back all that? I was like,
I'm just going to retire.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Join us at Fox.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Yeah, join you guys at Fox.

Speaker 4 (36:07):
And the back of my mind I knew I was like,
if I had the right opportunity, I'm going to go
back and play football.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
But if I don't, then I don't, you know.

Speaker 4 (36:14):
But it was more on that side that I wanted
to go back and play and try a new experience,
you know, and see what the situation was.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
And the right situation had to come up.

Speaker 4 (36:24):
And little do we know, a year later, look at
that situation that came upon us, and that's when I
was like, how can I pass up on that?

Speaker 3 (36:33):
Like it's a new opportunity.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
My mom lives in Florida, two hours away from Tampa.
I always go down to Florida. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I mean, I wrote an article about them when I
was in college. I wanted to play in Tampa Bay
for many reasons, and little did I know it came
true freaking ten years later, which is great. I mean, no,
like twelve years later, which is great. And it was

(36:55):
just the right situation. I wasn't going to come out
of retirement for just any old situation. That was the
right situation, and I definitely felt like I made the
right choice for sure.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
You know, it's interesting Brady's now out of football for
the first time in my career, my professional life. I
was in college when Brady was in college. It's kind
of crazy. And now he's not playing this year, and
it's so Brady. You consider him big brother, friend, mentor.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Like when you hear Brady and I know, it's he's
so much older than all these guys now. But it's
a pretty cool guy too.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
He's great man.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
I love Tom, but I would consider all of those
in the category. He's ABC and d mentor friend.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
He's kind of like daddy.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
You know, Daddy, what do we do here? And then
like it's just a mentor is a game to you,
and then he's your friend at the same time. So
he's everything. Man, He's he's just a great guy overall.
He's a great family man. It's just incredible just to
see how great of a daddy is in real life
to his kids while you know, being like a dad
to all of.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Us at the same time.

Speaker 4 (37:55):
So it's just an incredible job that he has done.
And that's why I was such a great situation to
go down the temple with him and and feel like,
you know, he felt more comfortable too with myself going down.
You know, imagine that you go to a new place
and you have your your number one guy that you
can just throw past to. You know, it just makes
you feel more comfortable and more confident. So and we
love Tampa, man. I love that front office in Tampa. Man,

(38:17):
Jason Lay, Mike Greenberg, all of those guys, Many Greeny,
They're they're fricking They're hilarious.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Man.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
I love I loved them and they always came out
to practice and made me laugh and get me through
practice every day.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
I loved it.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
It's great.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
We love those guys too, light, Greeny, Spy tech, Jackie Davidson,
that whole crew. Like, they've got a great group there
in Tampa. I know you're gonna be going in a
little bit so real rapid fire stuff. First one, uh,
cooler hang like when you're out at night, like who's
who'd you rather?

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Is it Edelman or is it Brady? Like who's the
guy you want to be with in the club?

Speaker 4 (38:49):
Well, definitely I would have to go with Edelman because
I don't even think Tom's.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
Going to make the club.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
So seven is that Yeah, he's not making it to
the club. So if I picked Tom, I'll just be
there by myself.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
That yeah, Okay, that was that one.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Tampa Bay Post, Brady Post, Gronk post all this this
Baker could still be good.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
What do you think I think he'll I mean they
got a good offense. They got a lot of weapons
around them. I mean, with that new with that running
back is going to be second year, then Evans, yeah,
Rashad White, then Mike Evans, Chris Godwin.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
I mean, they got weapons.

Speaker 4 (39:24):
Mean, Mike Evans is one of the most underrated receivers
in the NFL history, and he's had a thousand yards
every single year. But I think he I think he
does like decent, a little bit above average. You know,
he's gonna it's going to extend his career a little bit.
It's gonna maybe make him a starter I think for
about three more years.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
But uh, he'll have.

Speaker 4 (39:43):
A decent year, but it's not going to be in
a great year, but it's going to be a year
where it solidifies him as being an NFL starter.

Speaker 3 (39:52):
Still.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Last one, Jimmy Graham, as we're doing this recording, announced
that he's returning to the NFL.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Or he's been in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
He hasn't retired, but at thirty six, is signing with
the Saints two years away. Your advice to Jimmy Graham
on his quest to get back.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
That's wild, man.

Speaker 4 (40:08):
That was mind blowing when you sent me that text
message this morning.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Thank you for breaking the news to me, Peter.

Speaker 4 (40:14):
But the reason why I can see this work for
sure is because Jimmy Graham is a basketball player.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
He has a basketball background.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
And let me tell you, those basketball guys with basketball
background they last forever. There's something just different built in them.
It's just because of the way that they've been running
around their whole life. I feel like they stay in
shape for longer periods of time than football players, and
having that basketball background, I feel I can make them
last for a long time. And he must have been

(40:42):
doing something right over the last two years as well
that wants that is making him get back to the game.
So I would just say the hitting aspect, I'll just
get used to the hitting aspect in training camp and
get some time off.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
You're thirty six years old.

Speaker 4 (40:55):
Get a day or two off so you can recover
from all that, and I'll go out there and do
your thing.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Jimmy.

Speaker 4 (41:00):
I mean, you're not coming back because you don't think
you can do it. Obviously you think you can do it,
and that's why you're coming back.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
So do your thing. Man, be cheering for you. Man.

Speaker 4 (41:07):
It's kind of a little situation I kind of went through.
But he did two years off, so maybe I'll do
two years off now. They might be inspiration for me.
So if he does well, I'm only thirty four, I'll
be thirty five next year.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
After years, let's go. Let's go, Jimmy.

Speaker 4 (41:21):
Let's see what you got.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
My last one, we were at this big Fox event
and everyone has to come in and take photographs. And
it's one of these deals where it's like you see
in these music video shoots where it's manufactured. There's like
a fake wind machine and they're like, here, hold this football,
and there's dance music going.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
There's this promo shooting.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
The energy was all right, and we're all going one
by one and you know, Michael Vick is going up there,
I'm going up there, and then.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Chris is going up there.

Speaker 1 (41:47):
We bring it, We do our best, and you know,
it's Glazer, it's everybody. And then there's this moment where
you go up there and it's like all right, ground
go and I see a different side of you, and
it's like the lights are on and you're able to
turn it on and you're the most charming guy to
everybody in that room, and it's like the camera can't
escape you, and I'm like, holy.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
In that moment, I'm like, that's it. That's the quality.
That's what makes this guy so special. He's got this
ability to just bring everybody in.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
I was in awe of watching you just having to
like be gronk and it's I don't know if it's
exhausting being that way every day.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
But it's authentic, man, it is you. What do you
attribute that to?

Speaker 1 (42:25):
That ability to make everyone else feel great and to
kind of just bring energy and happiness enjoying what you're doing.

Speaker 4 (42:30):
Peter, when the lights go on, I'm always ready baby.
When it's showtime, one of his game time, I'm always.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
There, baby. And that's why Tom loves me. He always
knows he can go to me, baby.

Speaker 4 (42:41):
Everyone knows they can go to me. That's why Fox
call me because they know when that camera light switches on,
we're live on air, the Gronk.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Is gonna show up, baby, And that's what's up.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
I mean serious, Like if I'm a brand and I'm
looking at all these different options, like I saw it
in and like, I guess the USA has done stuff
with You've done stuff with all these brands for years, But.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
Are you gonna turn it on? Peter By the I'm.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Telling you, bro, it was like watch it.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
I'm like, Okay, that's star quality. And I'm not knocking
any of our colleagues, but it was like, Oh, that's Gronk,
and I'm telling you that's that's natural.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
Everyone was acting like they were two big time for it.
I was like but also I knew it was gonna
be like three minutes. That's what's great about it. I
was like, Okay, we got three minutes. I'll give them
my best shot. That's why I love Fox too. It's
like there's no BS downtime or sit around time. It's
like when we're on, when we're on, when we're off,
we're off. And I was like, all right, well, three
minute photo shoot, I'll give you my best. Usually my

(43:32):
photo shoots when i'm doing them for a brand or
a company, the three four hours, so then that can
get a little tighter.

Speaker 3 (43:37):
And I was like, three minutes. I'll give it my all, baby,
let's go.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
There's so many jokes we can make. Gronk on that note.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
I gotta go get my girlfriend. I gotta go drive
to a train station right now.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
That's what I'm doing.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
You asked me the first question, what am I doing?
Am I?

Speaker 3 (43:54):
You know?

Speaker 4 (43:54):
Am I downtime? Now I gotta go.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
Pick her up at the train station.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
Send our love to Camille. I love the fact that
you joined the podcast. Bro, You're a great guest and
a great dude. Thank you so much for joining.

Speaker 4 (44:05):
Thank you, Peter, Thanks thanks for having me. Man I'll
see you f Fox this year. We're going to have
a great time this year.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
To you as soon. Brother, there's Gronk. I mean, that's
the Gronk experience. That was awesome.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
Forty minutes, a ton of energy, stories, vulgarity, tenderness. I'm
bringing in our producer, Grace fuse Grace. You are in
for Aaron Wang Kaufman, who is world traveling at the
start of training camps. Not ideal for an NFL podcast producer.
You are at work today, How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (44:36):
I'm good? How are you great?

Speaker 1 (44:38):
What did you think of the Rob Gronkowski experience we
just endured.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
I thought he was hilarious. I loved it so many highlights.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Great, right, and that's him, Like, that's authentic.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
It's not like he suddenly becomes like a bookish like like, Okay,
I'm just going to be rude to people like he's
that way, And I think that authenticity is so real
and I so appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (44:58):
Absolutely great vibes.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
He did mention he wrote an article in college about
wanting to be a Tampa Bay buccaneer. I know you're
very good in research. Do you have the microfiche out?
Have you found said article that.

Speaker 5 (45:11):
What do you think he I think he meant paper.
I actually I did do some searching. I tried to
find the Gronk article. I did not find anything.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
So I'm ordering the Arizona school paper. It's the University
of Arizona. Question, that's the school paper. The school paper
is the Daily Wildcat. Wow, I think he probably.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
Meant a paper.

Speaker 5 (45:33):
I think he meant a paper. Yeah, I'm curious what
class would be relevant for that, but I really hope
that he has it in his file somewhere.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
And this is the best part about the season. He
tells an amazing story about Earl.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
Thomas, you know, Hernie, eating his disc and puncturing as long.
He gives us really good insight on what it was like,
you know, going to a contract negotiation with Belichick. And
yet the whole time, in the back of my mind,
I'm like, what is he talking about? That he wrote
a paper that he wanted in college about wanting to be.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
A teddy buccaneer. I gosh, I would love.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
To find out if he meant article paper mentioned it
once or I don't.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Know, but that is uh, that is awesome.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
I'm so excited, so Grenk's gonna be taking on a
bigger role with Fox NFL Sunday. He did a lot
at the end of the season last year. And I'm
telling you it's like I wasn't yes sing when I
said that great, Like, he just has this amazing electricity
to him.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
And you know those people in the world that like
you're in the room, like, oh, I get it. Absolutely,
he's got it.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
You've got it too. That was a good contribution just now. Absolutely,
I was waiting for you to have this prop prophetic.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
No, I'm sorry, I didn't have anything.

Speaker 5 (46:41):
Yeah, he's super cool.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
He's cool guy, cool guy.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
This podcast was awesome. We are excited to be back
most of us. Aaron, I'll get back next week. I'm
just busting chops. Grace, great job as always. I know
you've been working on this podcast for a while.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
It's cool to have you on the mic. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (46:59):
Always fun to you know, be here for the for
the recording.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Let's go on behalf of Grace myself, Jason Ing.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
She was also listening in and all the NFL network folks,
and of course our guest who was awesome, Rob Gronkowski.
We'll be with you guys next week. I hope you
enjoyed this episode of the Season with Peter Schrager. Tell
your friends, subscribe, let's get some listener numbers up, and
let's blow this thing out this season till next week.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
Thanks for listening.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.