When you think about two of the best tight ends to ever play in the NFL, Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce probably immediately make your list.
I mean c’mon, Gronk (who is retired) was absolutely electric to watch when he was at the top of his game with the New England Patriots, scoring 17 tuddys in a season, and then even balled out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well.
And then you have Kelce, who continues to put up mind boggling numbers every year he suits up for the Kansas City Chiefs, and when it’s all said and done, he’s arguably the greatest pass catching tight end of all time.
As you can imagine, Kelce was probably getting a ton of comparisons to Gronk early on in his career, and probably continues to do so to this day.
With that being said, Gronk made an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast recently, and we finally get to hear about what they truly think about the comparisons.
Gronk kicked things off by saying:
“In the beginning of my career with Travis having his first 1,000 yard season and all that, and I’m having 1,000 yards and he’s coming for me, because I was about two years ahead, and I mean you’re young, you got that juice you’re competing.
I was like ‘this guy, this MoFo ain’t taking my spot.’ Like you amped up my game for sure. At that age you care and you care big time, and I’m like ‘this guy ain’t taking my spot,’ and then he does it again the next year and I’m like ‘this guy’s for real though,’ and it’s pissing me off like he’s trying to take my spot and I can tell.
And then you did it again, and I started appreciating it. I’m like ‘this man is the real deal, Travis is the real deal for sure,’ I mean he’s putting up a thousand yards every year, he’s catching touchdowns, he’s leading the offense, and like I said it made me amp up my game.
You’ve always got someone coming for you, you’ve always got someone better than you coming right behind your tail, and you definitely helped my game big time.”
He also hilariously recalled when Kelce and George Kittle beat his record for single season receiving yards for a tight end, and how made he was:
“I was like ‘oh I gotta get back out there.'”
Gronk also said he loves what Kelce has done for the game, along with what he does for tight ends. However, he hilariously admitted that he doesn’t want to see him break his tight end touchdown record, which he set at 17 back in 2011.
Travis also admitted that the 2011 season has made him hungrier himself, and gave him something to push for.
You can check out the full conversation here:
