It doesn’t seem like Rob Gronkowski is harboring much, if any resentment toward the New England Patriots.
That said, it seems clear he feels the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers operate is much better suited for him.
Bruce Arians and Jason Licht run an organization that, obviously, is plenty professional. That said, it isn’t as tight of a ship as the Patriots — which, to be fair, no other club is.
Gronkowski gave a thoughtful comparison of Arians vs. his longtime coach, Bill Belichick.
“I would say the two differences about them are Coach Belichick was defensive-minded and here, Coach B.A. he is very offensive-minded,” Gronkowski said Monday on “The SiriusXM Blitz”, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “That’s the difference and then I would say what is very similar is they both know the ins and outs of what they know. Like Coach Belichick is very defensive-minded and an unbelievable coach working with the defensive side with the players. Coach B.A., working with the offensive side, just working the ins and outs. Both great coaches and both just know the details of what needs to be done to win football games. …
“They both definitely have their own persona, their own approaches to the way the media his held, the atmosphere of the program,” Gronkowski said. “There’s 32 clubs in the league. All 32 are always going to be different. There may be some similar, some totally different. I would say these two are totally different aspects of approaches to the media and everything. I will never take anything away from my nine years there. I learned so much under that program. I learned that way and I am actually very grateful that I learned that way. There’s many aspects of learning through that organization, lessons that were taught to me that I still use to this day, that I apply to this day.”
Then, there was this.
“Just coming here it’s a complete 180 for sure. Totally different. I feel the biggest difference is having the freedom of being yourself here in this organization.”
Hmm.
Gronkowski, as we’ve all grown to learn, is a pretty-free spirit. And while there might be some room for that with the Patriots, it appears there’s far more space for it in Central Florida.
