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12.19.17

11 Sound Bites From Gronk’s Epic Demolition of the Steelers: 'Legendary'

Posted by: Gronkowski

The Patriots hard-fought victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers was the hottest topic in sports media on Monday morning.

While there was the inevitable endless debate over the catch rule that meant Steelers tight end Jesse James did not maintain control of the ball for a touchdown in the final seconds of the game, one thing was indisputable – Gronk had one of his best games of the year … if not his life.

While Rob described the showdown in Heinz Field as “a lot of fun” and a “roller coaster,” the rest of the sports world had far more articulate praise for his epic achievements.

ESPN’s Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss called his role in New England's 27-24 win, "one of the best performances of his eight-year career."

With his nine catches for a career-high 168 yards and an unbelievable two-point conversion, Gronk saved "some of his best work for the team’s remarkable game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, in which he had receptions of 26, 26 and 17 yards and then a successful two-point conversion," Reiss wrote.

In the Patriots locker room after the game, Dwight Allen attached a familiar moniker to his fellow tight end, chanting: "Gronk GOAT, Gronk GOAT, Gronk GOAT."

"It was one of the greatest tight end performances I've ever seen, where he totally put the team on his back," he gushed. "He's 6-7 and he took it off his toes! He took it off his toes! You're not supposed to do that at 6-7. He's the GOAT."

Check out the other ripples of praise for No. 87's performance below.

Tom Brady
“He was doing it himself. I think they were trying to challenge us, and he made a lot of good plays. Other guys make a lot of good plays, too, but when he’s open, he gets it. It was just a great game by him. He played so, so great.”

Bill Belichick
"His catch radius is outstanding. His hands and his catch radius are two of the things that make him so difficult to cover that even when a defender is on him and he can be draped all over him, there's some place where the ball can be located that Rob can get it and the defender can't. Tom does a good job of putting it there and Rob does a good job of catching it."

Matthew Slater
"Have you seen a player like him? I think he was disappointed with the way things went [with the suspension], and he was very concerned about that. He had a bull's-eye focus and a mindset of 'I owe the team.' We had a conversation Friday night about him feeling like he had to have a big game to give the team a boost. I think he delivered on that."

Dion Lewis
“He’s a beast, baby. He was probably feeling good out there. Knowing Gronk, I knew he was going to come out good. He got a whole week off. Got to eat.”

Kenny Britt
"Legendary"

Boston Globe
"Rob Gronkowski has slipped out of his Superman clothes by now, has morphed from the cartoon character football player who’d just turned Heinz Field into his personal playground back into the civilian ready to board a return flight to New England.

"Gronk and Brady. The indefensible pair. As long as they’ve got these two, the Patriots always have a chance."

NFL Network
"And if you're a Steelers fan, your problem isn't the call. Your problem is throwing a slant into traffic when you could've thrown a back corner fade or thrown the ball away. Your problem is not doubling Gronk the whole last drive, or on the 2pt conversion."

Field Yates for ESPN
"Yesterday, on what was arguably his best drive since entering the NFL, Gronk racked up exactly 69 receiving yards on a single drive for the first time in his career."

Boston Herald
"The 6-foot-6 matchup nightmare took over the second half with seven catches for 135 yards, most all of them coming when he was covered, although as it turned out he was not." 

 

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