Rob Gronkowski Takes Shot At Patriots Over Players Earning Bonus Money
BOSTON (CBS) -- Rob Gronkowski enjoyed a ton of success during his time with the Patriots, but he's constantly leaving hints that he didn't really enjoy the so-called Patriot Way.
The tight end, who retired from the Patriots in 2019 only to come back for the Buccaneers and enjoy more success the last two seasons, took a swipe at his former team in terms of players earning bonus money during the regular season.
It came during Gronkowski's Wednesday night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The two were discussing Gronkowski hitting a bonus in the final week of the regular season with the Buccaneers last year, which went viral after the game. There is a video of Gronkowski letting Tom Brady know that he was just one catch away from hitting a $1 million bonus built into his contract.
Brady was more than happy to make it happen for Gronk, and the tight end hit his incentive.
Gronkowski told Kimmel that players being aware of how close they are to incentives is not very unusual in the NFL. (The discussion begins around the 6:30 mark in this video.) But that's when he took a shot at the Patriots, making it sound like the team goes out of its way to make sure players don't receive such bonuses.
"I've seen it before actually. Not with the Patriots, though," said Gronk. "They'll probably pull you before you hit that bonus there."
He had one of his hearty chuckles over the comment, before walking it back a bit.
"I shouldn't have said that," added Gronk.
The Patriots can be a fickle bunch when it comes to paying players, but Bill Belichick has also paid out some bonuses that weren't hit. The latest example came in 2019, when Lawrence Guy and James White came up just shorting of their playing time incentives, but received their bonuses anyways.
But Gronk was enjoying retirement that season, so maybe he missed it.
