Rob Gronkowski isn’t buying the idea that Terry Bradshaw simply blanked on live TV.
Five days after the FOX NFL Sunday moment that sent Trey McBride’s name racing around the internet, Gronkowski said he thinks Bradshaw’s “What about McBride?” line was deliberate. Speaking Thursday with Baker Machado of Front Office Sports, Gronkowski brushed off the idea of a broadcast slip and gave his deskmate an easier explanation.
“I think Terry Bradshaw got us all,” he said. “He wanted to throw us off.”
The exchange that started the whole thing came during Arizona’s Week 2 preview against Seattle. Gronkowski had just called the Cardinals tight end “the best tight end in the NFL right now” when Bradshaw jumped in with, “What about McBride?”
Curt Menefee immediately pushed back: “That’s what he just said!” Bradshaw then tried to smooth it over by saying, “I set you up,” before repeating the line to Menefee.
Michael Strahan piled on with “Brilliant mind to brilliant mind” as the desk descended into overlapping laughter and crosstalk.
Bradshaw sold the moment as a setup, and Gronkowski is taking him at his word. In his FOS interview, he said he sat there for a beat wondering whether he had somehow not picked McBride, then decided Bradshaw was doing what he often does on TV: ask about the exact thing that was just said and see who blinks first.
The clip itself spread fast after Awful Announcing posted it from the Week 2 pregame show, and social media treated it like another broadcast gaffe from a broadcaster who has been on FOX since 1994. Gronkowski didn’t go there. He described Bradshaw as a character with a sense of humor and said he enjoys sitting next to him.
The bigger story, though, is why Gronkowski was so high on McBride in the first place.
The Arizona tight end has the résumé to back it up. McBride, the former Colorado State standout drafted by the Cardinals in the second round in 2022, finished the 2025 season with 126 catches for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Those numbers led all tight ends in receptions and yards, and they made him the first tight end with back-to-back 100-catch seasons. He also tied Dallas Goedert for the position lead in touchdowns.
That production has carried into 2026. In Week 1 at the Chargers, McBride posted nine catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
In Week 2 against Seattle, the game Gronkowski was previewing when Bradshaw interrupted, McBride added eight receptions for 41 yards and Arizona’s only touchdown in a 31-7 loss. Through two games, he has 17 catches for 136 yards and two scores.
For Gronkowski, that’s enough to put McBride at the front of the line. The four-time Super Bowl champion, four-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler has a pretty sturdy standard for the position, and he was comfortable making the call on live TV.
Arizona heads to San Francisco in Week 3 to face a 2-0 49ers defense that just handled the Rams. If McBride keeps producing, the conversation Gronkowski started may not be going away anytime soon - Bradshaw setup or not.
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