Bill Belichick compares Rob Gronkowski to Giants great Mark Bavaro
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media following a game against the New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., on Oct. 25, 2015. Credit: AP / Charles Krupa
Everyone knows that Rob Gronkowski can wreck a defense by taking advantage of mismatches and catching touchdown passes, but Bill Belichick said on Friday that he's also a really good blocker.
He even compared him to the player Belichick sees as one of the best-blocking tight ends ever: Giants great Mark Bavaro.
"I'll put him there with Bavaro in terms of the guys I've coached," Belichick said of Gronkowski. "I mean, it'd be hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro just because of the number of times he blocked Reggie White with no help. We ran those 38-Boss and all that and they were in that over front and Reggie was the six-technique and Bavaro blocked him. There was no double- team. He just blocked him. Now that was a good battle."
It wasn't just the games against the Eagles and White that impressed Belichick, who waxed on about Bavaro.
"I've seen Bavaro block [Lawrence] Taylor before, blocked [Carl] Banks," he said. "I mean those were as competitive matchups and practices as I've ever seen. I mean it was awesome to watch players of that level compete the way they competed. All three of those guys were just tremendous football players.
"So I have a lot of accolades for Rob and his blocking. I'm just saying it's hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro based on Reggie White, Banks and Taylor. Those guys are pretty good. I mean, I can't tell you how many times coaching Taylor he got blocked. Not very many. He didn't get blocked very often.
"They might have run away from him, they might have got in his way, but when he was actually blocked-blocked, and Banks, you can probably count those. It'd be in the single digits for me.
"We didn't play against Bavaro, but we played against him in practice, and we played against him in training camp where there were one-on-ones and nine-on-sevens and running drills. There was no 'if this is a pass, do I have to re-route the guy?' No, it wasn't any of that. It was 'I know he's blocking me, he knows he's blocking me, let's have at it.' And that was awesome. That was awesome."
As for Gronkowski, Belichick said he enjoys that often- unsung aspect of the job.
"There are a lot of plays Rob comes to the sideline and he's more excited about a block he made on the series than a catch he made, which a lot of tight ends I've coached I wouldn't put in that category," Belichick said. "He really takes pride in it."
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.
