Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski: Nothing alike, but they're great as a tandem

He may be the greatest quarterback in NFL history, but when it comes to comic impressions, Tom Brady is far from accomplished. Still, that didn’t stop him from segueing into the realm a few weeks ago when he was recalling an anecdote about Rob Gronkowski.

Some years back, when both were playing for the Patriots, the tight end was preparing for an offseason magazine photo shoot and was afraid that he was too out of shape to look good for the camera. So he asked Brady to meet him at a nearby park, and on a cold, rainy, early spring morning, Gronkowski ran some routes and Brady threw him some passes.

It was at this point in the telling when Brady lowered his voice and began talking like Gronk, who sounds like — and lives life a little bit like — a cross between a frat boy and a golden retriever.

"He’s like: ‘Dude, that was great. That was perfect. That was just what I needed. I feel ripped now.’ "

A few dozen pass routes did the trick.

"He was ready for his photo shoot because of one day of the two of us working out together," Brady said, returning to his own vocal pitch. "It was good execution, but I think for him, it was more important that he felt like he was shredded."

That story tells a little bit about Brady, that he was willing to help a teammate out. And it tells a little bit about Gronkowski, too, in that he does not require much to overcome his rare insecurities.

But it tells a whole lot about Brady and Gronkowski together, the way they operate and the kind of relationship they brought with them from their days in New England to this Super Bowl season together with Tampa Bay.

It was, after all, just a few days after Brady signed with the Bucs as a free agent that Gronkowski — returning from a brief retirement in which he dabbled in everything from football broadcasting to professional wrestling — had his rights traded from the Patriots to the Bucs so he could continue his career with his quarterback.

And while most people acknowledge that the Bucs are in the Super Bowl because of Brady — "It only took one man," coach Bruce Arians said after the NFC Championship Game last week — the truth those in the organization know is that they needed Gronkowski to make the Brady acquisition work.

It gave each a familiar face (and familiar voice to imitate) on a roster filled with never-before-met teammates, and it gave the Bucs what still is one of the more potent quarterback-receiver combinations in the NFL.

More important, it gave them not one style of leadership backed by a bucket full of rings, but two very different ones. While Brady would chew out teammates on the sideline or be relentlessly demanding of them in practices, sometimes with the coldness of machinery, Gronkowski was the life of the party.

They are such opposites from the outside, one coming off as a polished perfectionist and the other as a beer-chugging buffoon. The Man and the man-child. The GOAT and the goof. But put them together and they are the yin and the yang of this Buccaneers team that is one win away from being world champions.

"Those two guys brought something extremely special because they’ve been there and done it," Arians said. "You see two totally different personalities doing it the same way."

Arians said this past week that he did not know he was getting that when his team acquired Gronkowski. He’d seen the film of him as a player, but he’d also read the headlines of him as a playa.

"You knew Tom was a great leader," he said. "I didn’t know about Gronk’s work ethic. It’s unbelievable. I mean, he comes in early and stays late. He’s great. But he’s Gronk, so he’s got that great personality to go with his work ethic."

Gronkowski, it turns out, isn’t just an inspiration to his teammates.

"Man, if you are having a bad day, I suggest any of you just go spend a little time with Gronk," general manager Jason Licht told reporters this past week. "He just lifts you up just by being himself. We have conversations every day that I look forward to. I tell my wife: ‘I can’t wait to go talk to Gronk at practice today.’ He is just being himself, he is very authentic. He loves the game, and when it’s time to be serious, he is very serious.

"There is a lot of talk about what Tom has done for this locker room, and it’s all warranted, but what Gronk has done for this locker room is equally as amazing."

Next week will be the fifth time Brady and Gronkowski will play in a Super Bowl together. In the previous three, they have connected 23 times for 297 yards and three touchdowns. If they produce a touchdown against Kansas City, it will be their 13th postseason score. That would make them the most prodigious quarterback-receiver combination in NFL playoff history, surpassing Joe Montana and Jerry Rice who also have 12.

Gronkowski had just one catch in last week’s NFC Championship Game, but it was a big one. In the fourth quarter, with the Bucs leading 28-23, Gronkowski caught a screen pass and took it 29 yards for a first down that led to the field goal that made it an eight-point lead with 4:42 remaining.

After that game, the two former Patriots embraced.

"We just gave each other a big hug and said: ‘This is what it’s all about. This is why we came down here. This is our dream,’ " Gronk said in a TV interview that night. "We said: ‘Man, we’re doing it. We’re doing it big. And it’s for real. We’re going to the Super Bowl. We came down to Tampa, man. Let’s finish it off.’ "

If they do, they’ll undoubtedly find each other again amid the confetti and share yet another special moment in their relationship. Perhaps one day years from now, Brady will tell the story of this game and share what Gronkowski said to him after Super Bowl LV. And if the audience is really lucky, he’ll do it in Gronk’s voice, too. He’s had another whole season to work on that aspect of his act.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.