NFL

Rob Gronkowski hasn’t touched Lombardi Trophy after mishap with Patriots

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Perhaps the Buccaneers want to keep at least a lightsaber’s length between Rob Gronkowski and the team’s new hardware.

When speaking to ESPN on Monday — one day after Tampa Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 2021 — the Buccaneers tight end revealed he hasn’t touched the team’s Lombardi Trophy following a 2019 incident involving the Patriots’ prize.

“That was dangerous how I dented that trophy,” Gronkowski said from Disney World, where he hung out with Stormtroopers. “I always blame that on Julian [Edelman], he threw me the pitch.”

In April 2019, two months after New England topped the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53, Gronkowski dented the Lombardi Trophy after using the piece to take a pitch from Edelman on the Red Sox’s Opening Day game at Fenway Park in Boston.

“I haven’t even touched the Lombardi Trophy yet,” Gronkowski continued Monday. “I’m not sure if it’s for a reason, if the Buccaneers organization is trying to keep it away from me, but it would be pretty cool just to even see it. I just saw it from about 30 yards away yesterday, but I have not touched it yet, and hopefully, I get to soon.”

Rob Gronkowski uses the Lombardi Trophy as a bat in April 2019.
Rob Gronkowski uses the Lombardi Trophy as a bat in April 2019. Getty Images

Gronkowski, who had six receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s win, also told ESPN his plans for when he does come into contact with the Lombardi.

“I’m going to give it a big kiss. I gotta pay my respects to it, and give it a big hug, give it a kiss, hold it up in the air, and then I just go with the flow, I just never know what’s going to happen, I really don’t try to plan anything, I just go with the flow, and whatever happens, happens. I just like being in that moment and just thinking of things on the spot,” he said.

Gronkowski, who has been dating Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Camille Kostek for years, is also set to be a free agent this offseason after coming out of retirement last April to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.

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