After announcing his retirement from the National Football League last month, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski left his teammates with a parting gift they’ll never forget.
The 2019 Super Bowl Champs were being honored on April 3 at Fenway Park just before the Boston Red Sox season opener when Gronkowski accidentally dented the team’s sixth Lombardi trophy when he used it as a baseball bat.
In a video posted on Twitter by the team, Gronk’s former teammate Julian Edelman was seen lining up for a pitch while he appeared to hold the Lombardi trophy like a baseball bat.
“It was all fun and games until it wasn’t,” Matthew Slater, special teams captain, said in the video mash-up.
PATRIOTS TIGHT END ROB GRONKOWSKI ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT ON INSTAGRAM
Jason McCourty, a cornerback for the Patriots, said everyone figured the pair was pretending.
“No way is he going to swing the Lombardi trophy.”
But sure enough, Gronk switched from a batting stance to bunt the ball, making a loud enough sound to ensure that he made contact.
“Gronkowski’s parting gift,” McCourty said.
Defensive back Duron Harmon said that if “anybody could do it and get away with it, it’d be Mr. Gronkowski himself.”
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Harmon continued, “He has now left an everlasting mark so that people will never forget that he was a part of that championship team.”
Gronkowski announced last month in an Instagram post that he would be retiring from league 9 years after the Patriots drafted him.
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