NFL great Rob Gronkowski has reaffirmed his admiration for Travis Kelce – despite admitting on Fox NFL Sunday that he feels George Kittle is the league’s best tight end currently.
The Kansas City Chiefs stalwart came in for some criticism after a listless start to the new campaign but his legacy as one of the greatest players in his position in history is already secure. The 35-year-old has formed part of three Super Bowl-winning teams at Arrowhead Stadium in the last five years.
Still, that did not stop former New England Patriots mainstay Gronk asserting that Kelce has been knocked off his perch so far this term. The KC great has had 335 yards with a single touchdown during the early weeks of the season, while San Francisco 49ers rival Kittle has had 503 yards with six touchdowns.
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Those superior statistics have led the retired tight end to conclude that the latter has overtaken Kelce in terms of his standing among his positional peers. He said on Fox NFL Sunday: “It’s definitely George Kittle. He’s leading the league in touchdown receptions at the tight end position.”
However, Gronkowski reasserted his admiration for the Chiefs star’s career achievements on Dudes on Dudes podcast recently, as he addressed comparisons with himself, saying: “You know, it’s really like not a comparison. What they ask him to do with the Chiefs—I could not replicate what he’s doing… And if you ask him to do what I was doing with the Patriots, I don’t think he could do it like I was doing.”
“I’m gonna run… and I’m gonna use my body to be physical,” he later said, as he compared his own attributes with that of the Kansas City hero, adding: “Tom [Brady] just throws the ball up… I’m bigger, I’ll box him out and just go up and catch the freaking ball.”
This comes after the Patriots icon’s previous comments on the Ryen Russillo Podcast too, where he acknowledged Kelce’s standing among the best tight ends in NFL history, asserting: “I mean, I believe that Travis Kelce is the best, like, receiving tight end.
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Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski are regularly cited among the best tight ends in history (
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“If you’re talking about a tight end, he’s the best tight end in terms of catching the ball. There’s no doubt about it, you can’t even argue. I mean, he’s had seven 1,000-yard seasons in a row. He’s a great red zone target as well and when he’s not out on the field, they’re not the same team.”
As for the comparisons between himself and the Chiefs ace, Gronkowski added: “I would say, look, we were talking about just the way I played the game – old school style – it’s an argument.”
“It’s an argument that I don’t want to make the final decision on. It’s an argument on, also, what type of offense you’re in, what type of style you have in the game, how they’re featuring you, what type of system you’re in, what players are around you as well. He’s just had a great career.
“He’s taking it to the top, and he just keeps taking it to another level each year. And he’s in his thirties, too, he’s the same age as me which is incredible, and he’s still going at that speed. So I’ll leave it up to you guys to debate the top tight end out there.”
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