FOXBORO - Rob Gronkowski’s day at Gillette Stadium had the kind of energy only he could pull off. The Patriots Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday afternoon officially made him the 38th inductee, and the whole scene fit him perfectly: former teammates in the building, Tom Brady among the familiar faces, and Gronkowski even spiking Green Bay Packers helmets before the speeches started.
Then came the part everyone was waiting for - the speech. Gronkowski admitted afterward that he was fighting nerves before he ever stepped to the microphone.
“I wanted to throw up, I really did,” Gronkowski told reporters after his speech. “I never really had that feeling.
I was like, I want to puke a little bit. I’m that nervous.”
He didn’t, of course. Instead, he delivered a nearly 18-minute speech that mixed gratitude, self-deprecation and the same loose, unpredictable charm that defined his playing days in New England.
One of the funniest stretches came when he revisited the infamous pre-draft meeting that helped launch his Patriots career. The story of him falling asleep in Nancy Meier’s office before the 2010 Draft has been told plenty of times, but Gronkowski added a fresh twist: why it happened.
“I literally laid my head down on the table and took a nap,” Gronkowski said. “Coach (Belichick), I just just didn’t understand at the time that’s called recovery, buddy.
Well, after that situation, a couple coaches then drew up a play on the board, erased it, asked me about the routes. I had no clue.
I was tired and hungover, which they still don’t know. Just told on myself.
“So basically, I said, ‘Just throw me the ball. I’ll catch it and watch what I do.’ They secretly loved it.”
New England traded up to take him with the 42nd pick, and the rest, as they say, took care of itself.
Gronkowski also leaned into the celebration side of the day, especially when he talked about what it meant to become the second tight end ever in the Patriots Hall of Fame. He referenced the Gronk Spike, his old “Yo soy fiesta” line from 2011, and the shirt Matt Light gave him before the ceremony: “Yo Soy Fiesta Hall of Famer.”
“I owe so much to all of you that tonight, I’ll drink a hefty, fat Boston Lager beer,” Gronkowski exclaimed. “Cheers to ya’ll! Yo soy fiesta, baby!”
He later told reporters he planned to see Julian Edelman in New York that night and expected a beer waiting for him.
“Those are definitely New England beers,” Gronkowski said. “I’m going to tell him to have one ready for me.”
Even with the laughs rolling, the speech still had its awkward Gronk moments. He stumbled over “resiliency” while talking about what football taught him, then blamed Camille Kostek for jinxing him after she told him not to use the word.
“Play after play. The discipline, the accountability, the resiliency.
Camille said ‘you can’t say that word, take it out,’” he laughed. “She jinxed me, she jinxed me.
Well, you need that word because you need it because it’s unmatched to play this game. Resiliency.
Resiliency. Hey, I got knocked down.
I got right back up.”
He also made sure to salute the people who helped shape him long before New England, thanking coaches, teammates and friends from Williamsville North, Woodland Hills and the University of Arizona.
“I’m still a kid at heart and always will be. Coaches, teammates and friends at Williamsville North (High School), Woodland Hills and the University of Arizona, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all,” Gronkowski said. “They’re not even here, don’t clap for them.”
From there, he turned to the Patriots side of his football life, mentioning his positional coaches, the training staff, Bill O’Brien and Josh McDaniels. When he spotted McDaniels in the crowd, he couldn’t resist one more jab.
“You wish you still had me, buddy.”
McDaniels had helped him “find mismatches” during his time in New England, and Gronkowski’s joke landed like everything else he said Saturday - with a grin and a little edge.
He also took a swing at one of his signature on-field stories, the 2014 play when he blocked Colts defensive back Sergio Brown out of bounds. That moment came up multiple times during the ceremony, and Gronkowski gave his version in classic fashion.
“There was a safety yapping, yapping, you know, talking trash all game long,” Gronkowski said. “I took them and threw them right out of the club, right out of bounds.
Classic, and (I) even got Bill to smile. And still to this day, that safety had yet to sniff the dance floor.
You talk trash to the Gronkster, I’ll teach you a lesson.”
By the end, he brought it back to the simplest Gronkowski message of all: he’s a Patriot forever, and the fiesta isn’t over yet.
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