The old tight ends coach in Andy Reid is smiling at the two stars at the position in Super Bowl LV.
Reid’s first job in the NFL was as an assistant offensive line and tight ends coach with the Green Bay Packers in 1992.
While quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are the headliners, the two top tight ends are special in their own right.
Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Tampa Bay’s Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement to reunite with Brady, will keep the defenses honest in Super Bowl LV at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
“I might be one of the biggest Gronk fans out there,” Kelce said. “Let it be told, man.”
Kelce has the most 1,000-yard receiving seasons for a tight ends, with five consecutive. He broke George Kittle’s NFL record for yards receiving by a tight end with 1,416 this season. His production earned him a four-year, $57 million contract extension this past offseason.
“I’ve got nothing but major respect for Travis Kelce,” Gronkowski said. “He has helped transform the tight end position. He has helped put the tight end position on the map. Speaking of contract-wise, he has helped the tight end position get paid.”
Gronkowski, who played from 2010-18 with New England, was the previous standard at the position after Tony Gonzalez retired from the Falcons after the 2014 season. Gronkowki had 45 catches for 623 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Overall, he has 566 catches for 8,484 yards and 86 touchdowns and three Super Bowl rings.
Both have similar personalities.
“Travis, he’s just kind of the life of the party, but at the same time, it amazes me how he’s able to interact with every single person, every kid, every fan and have the same energy every single day,” Mahomes said.
“I can say he might have a bad practice, but you watch him interact with the fans after. After practice, I know he’s really mad at himself for not practicing the right way, but he makes every single person feel like they’re the most important person in the world.”
He just likes to interact with people.
“He has that natural gift, to really embrace everybody and show love to everybody,” Mahomes said. “That is truly a special component about him.”
Overall -- regular season and playoffs -- Kelce has the most yards in a single season by a tight end, with 1,643. The previous high mark of 1,585 yards was set by Gronkowski in 2011.
After faking the funk during virtual workouts, Gronkowski had to get back in shape after not playing in 2019.
“I would bring my shirt out and then I would bring another shirt out, so when I’m running the sprints, I would film myself like 15 times for that workout session,” Gronkowski said. “But I would run in a couple of different shirts because you only had to send in like two or three reps. So then when the next time came, I didn’t have to film myself because I already filmed myself running in a different shirt every time on that one day.”
The Bucs never caught on to Gronkowski’s fake virtual workouts.
It showed once practice started, and the 31-year-old Gronkowski had to keep up with his younger teammates. He eventually put in the work, though.
“I didn’t know about Gronk’s work ethic,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. ”It’s unbelievable – he comes in early, stays late (and) is great. But, he’s Gronk, so he’s got that great personality to go with his work ethic.”
Gronkowski’s personality and play started to spread throughout the team.
“You knew Tom was a great leader,” Arians said. “With COVID, I don’t go into the locker room very much, but those two guys brought something extremely special because they’ve been there and done it. When young players see that, they listen. You see two totally different personalities doing it the same way.”
Gronkowski believes the tight end position is in good hands with Kelce.
“The tight end position kind of really wasn’t looked at,” Gronkowski said. “It was kind of overshadowed by the receivers, the running backs, the quarterbacks and stuff. But I feel like the tight end position is on the map now. It’s a position that I feel like kids want to play.
“People want to grow up to be a tight end, which is pretty, pretty awesome.”
Falcons’ 2021 draft position:
NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks released his Mock Draft 1.0 and has the Falcons selecting BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. He has Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields going second overall to the New York Jets.
Bucky’s picks
1. Jacksonville Jaguars - Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
2. New York Jets - Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
3. Miami Dolphins (via Houston) - Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
4. Falcons - Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
5. Cincinnati Bengals - Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
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