The New England Patriots own six Vince Lombardi Trophies, but not all of them are alike. The last one earned at the end of the 2018 season, has a visible dent on its football-shaped head thanks to tight end Rob Gronkowski using it as a baseball bat during a ceremony at the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park.
Earlier this week, after earning his fourth Super Bowl win as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gronkowski appeared on NFL Network to share the story of the incident that dented the trophy two years ago. And he was quick to deflect blame onto one of his teammates.
“That was not my fault, that was Julian Edelman’s fault. He threw me the pitch,” Gronkowski said. Like, Julian, I’m in the batter’s box and I have the trophy as my bat. And he’s silly enough to throw me the pitch. What were you thinking, Julian? Why would you throw me the pitch? You know I’m swinging. I’m Gronk. You think I’m going to stop in the batter’s box and not take a swing? Come on, you know me!”
“And then I tricked him. He thought, ‘Rob’s going to go big for a home run,’ and I just bunted it. Imagine if I took a full swing, the whole football on the Lombardi Trophy would be off.”
Except for the dent, the trophy is still intact. At least one cannot deny that Gronkowski left a lasting and literal impression on the Patriots during his time with the organization.