Gronkowski ranks fourth in the NFL with 10 touchdowns.
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) scrambles past Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Jalil Brown (30) during the first quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011.FOXBOROUGH – There’s always a landmark moment when a player reaches the tipping point between being good and great.
For New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, that moment may have come during Monday night’s 34-3 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium.
Now in his second season, Gronkowski, who finished with four receptions for 96 yards, has been pushing his way toward that mark since last season, but it’s doubtful that knowledge of his talents will remain confined to the New England region after his performance in the nationally televised game.
The football-viewing world is now going to have to start considering where Gronkowski ranks among the NFL’s elite tight ends, and there’s a strong case to be made for him to end up at that top of that list based on his recent play.
His first take-notice moment came in the second quarter when he ended a run of stagnant play for the Patriots by reeling in a short pass over the middle and running it into the end zone for a 52-yard score that gave the Patriots a 7-3 lead.
He went uncovered off the line as linebacker Derrick Johnson was frozen by a play-action fake, but showed impressive speed by beating safety Kendrick Lewis to the end zone.
“They bit on the fake well. The (offensive line) did a great job with that play and (quarterback Tom Brady) saw me and made the nice throw,” Gronkowski said. “They bit so well, and the o-line men went off so well, it just happened to be wide open and I happened to get the touchdown.”
Gronkowski then took it to another level in the third quarter by displaying the power he possesses in his 6-foot-6, 265-pound frame when he broke a tackle by safety Donald Washington on the sideline and plowed over Johnson before flipping into the end zone like a gymnast for a 19-yard touchdown that put New England comfortably ahead 17-3.
It was a result of sheer determination.
“When I get the ball you just don’t want to go down, you try to do something with it just like everyone else does -- what a running back does,” he said. “You got to try and do something with the ball, that’s why you get it. It just happens that those were big plays and I was wide open. Everyone else is doing a good job, it got me open.”
Gronkowski’s combination of finesse and power has been no secret in this part of the country, but now he’s also amassing the credentials to augment those characteristics.
With the two scores, Gronkowski now has 20 touchdowns in 26 games, making him the fastest in NFL history to reach that mark as a tight end, shattering the previous mark of 31 set by Mike Ditka.
His touchdown figure is also the second highest by all players over the last two seasons, placing him behind only Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson (23).
Hearing those numbers, even Gronkowski was stunned.
“It’s still a dream come true, being in the NFL,” he said. “Some days I wake up, I talk to (linebacker) Dane (Fletcher), my roommate, and we’re like, ‘Dude, we’re in the NFL.’ It’s crazy still; we still can’t kind of believe it. It’s playing with all these great players that we looked up to in high school, even middle school. So much fun coming out, got to treat every moment like it’s your last.”
Gronkowski’s rise becomes even more impressive when you consider that it took him a considerable amount of time to earn Brady’s trust as a rookie last season.
Over the first eight weeks of 2010, Brady rarely looked his way and Gronkowski was limited to 14 receptions for 147 yards and three touchdowns.
But in the second half of the season – beginning with a five-catch, 72-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Steelers in Pittsburgh – the two got on the same page and Gronkowski exploded down the stretch, reeling in 28 passes for 398 yards and seven touchdowns over the final eight weeks.
That trust has continued into this season. Gronkowski has accumulated the second-most targets from Brady, and success has followed. He has already amassed three 100-yard games after having just one last season, and leads all NFL tight ends with 10 touchdowns.
Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy leads all players with 12 touchdowns.
“His athletic ability, obviously,” Brady said when asked what impresses him the most about Gronkowski. “He catches the ball great, he’s tough, he runs well, he blocks. He really does everything you ask a tight end to do. He’s dangerous out there.”
At this point, there’s little reason to think that Gronkowski will slow down, and with a soft schedule down the stretch, his credentials could end up blowing the field away by the time the season is over.