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Is Gronk’s Marketing Ploy With The Fans And Media Going To Backfire In The End?

Kings of Boston Sports



Rob Gronkowski is one of the most cherished athletes in Boston sports history. Gronk’s Hall Of Fame career was also the greatest of any tight end in history when you include all the championships. This man owes nothing to Patriots fans after he announced his retirement earlier in the year. Many fans accepted he has retired for good but not all of them. Some still believe he will return. Could his constant teasing of a comeback to the Patriots end up blowing up in his face? New England is not the most forgiving of places, and should the Patriots not win an unprecedented 7th Super Bowl this season, fans will be looking to point their fingers at someone. No player or coach is immune. After all, there were plenty of fans calling for Belichick’s head following the Super Bowl LII loss.

The reality is, whether fair or not, it is championship or bust for the Patriots. In most other cities just making the playoffs is cause for a huge celebration, but not here. A loss or early exit in the playoffs would be considered a massive failure by the fans and media. Winning a Super Bowl is a once in a lifetime experience if they are lucky for most NFL fans. It is a much different story here, after ridiculously going to eight consecutive AFC Championship games, Patriots fans have become spoiled and hardly even accept a loss in the preseason anymore.



Everyone knows Gronk is sort of a goofball, and anything he says should not be taken with a grain of salt. Still, Gronk has been constantly playing games with the Boston media and fans with the attempt to create a buzz. Gronk is aware the media will happily write up a comeback story, even if it has no legs, in an effort to reach their quota. It seems like a win/win for all, and Gronk gets to promote his latest ventures.

Gronk supposedly has a “big announcement” set for tomorrow. No matter what he is going to say he will have thousands of fans waiting for him to make the announcement after he hyped it up. Some fans are starting to get frustrated as they expect Gronk to announce that he is partnering with some new brand name, or maybe talking about his upcoming show, neither will qualify as a big announcement. Others are really holding out hope that he will announce a comeback. Either way it seems like everyone is bound to be disappointed in the end and Gronk will be left looking as the boy who cried wolf.

Now this is hardly the same as a fan favorite like Johnny Damon or Ray Allen skipping town in free agency to go play for the enemy. Still, after playing in New England for his entire 9 year career, and living in the area, Gronk should have a better idea of how Boston sports fans and the media reacts. With the Patriots current struggles on offense, especially at the tight end position, leading fans on when you have no intention of returning may be a dangerous game. Sure, the Patriots could very well run the table and add to their Lombardi collection as many expect, but the last thing you want to be is the guy that fans start pointing their fingers at should things go south.