Yahoo Sports Rob Gronkowski dented Patriots' Lombardi Trophy using it as a baseball bat
Rob Gronkowski retired this offseason to conclude a Hall of Fame career that includes four All-Pro nods and three Super Bowl rings.
He didn’t do so without leaving one final indelible mark on the New England Patriots.
In perhaps the most Gronk move of all Gronk moves, the nine-year Patriots tight end put a dent in New England’s newest Lombardi Trophy, secured with February’s Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams.
He did so while using it as a baseball bat.
Batter up
The Patriots made a video about it. Enjoy.
.@RobGronkowski left a mark on this organization.
And on the sixth Lombardi. pic.twitter.com/t5IVTyCXcA— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 17, 2019
First-pitch warmups go wrong
Per the Patriots video, the incident happened during a celebration of the Super Bowl win ahead of a Boston Red Sox game. Gronkowski and Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman were warming up before throwing out the honorary first pitch for the April 9 game.
As Edelman readied to throw a pitch, Gronkowski took a batter’s stance while holding the Lombardi Trophy.
Teammates didn’t think he’d do it for some reason
Some fellow Patriots who witnessed the incident, including cornerback Jason McCourty and defensive back Duron Harmon, didn’t think Gronkowski would actually use the trophy as a bat.
Why did they think that? Who knows? Anyone with a moderate awareness of what it means to be Gronk should have been fully aware of what was coming next.
What came next was Gronk squaring up for a bunt that he connected on, leaving a dent on the football portion of the trophy.
Was he worried about the damage? Nah. He immediately shifted his focus to running to fake first base before being fake thrown out.
“If anybody could do it and get away with it, it’d be Mr. Gronkowski himself,” Harmon said.
Yep.
Patriots embrace it
Bravo to the Patriots for leaning in to the Gronkness of it all.
It’s also a sick brag to remind everyone that this was, indeed, their sixth Lombardi Trophy. If one gets dinged up, no big deal.
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