New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is known for a lot of things on the football field. A two-time Super Bowl champion, a catcher of touchdowns, blocking for Tom Brady, his favorite number is 69 and now a wrestling legend.
OK, maybe “wrestling legend” is a stretch.
Gronkowski was in attendance for the WWE’s annual, mega-wrestling event WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida this past Sunday and had his moment in the spotlight — which is nothing new for #87 — during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
During the late stages of the match, Mahal threw a drink at Gronk, which prompted him to interfere with the match and delivered a three-point stance shoulder-blocking move to knock Mahal down to the mat. With Gronk’s help, it led to Mojo Rawley, a friend of Gronk, to a victory after Mahal was eliminated last.
Gronk looked like a natural fit for the WWE should his NFL career begin to dwindle. Emerging from the crowd, hopping over the barricade, undressing himself, delivering a high-impact maneuver and imitating “Stone Cold” Steve Austin down to the kicking and trash-talking. Yeah, he’d be a perfect fit for the WWE Universe.
Gronkowski who is recovering from a season-ending back surgery in December, definitely looked healthy enough to deliver a hard-hitting blow to someone who is used to taking scripted hits.
However, you’d have to wonder if the Patriots organization was fond of seeing their superstar participate in physical activities in only three months since his surgery.
Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk reported that Gronkowski had obtained permission from the Patriots before WrestleMania which would allow him to participate in the event. While New England didn’t object, they have yet to release a statement on the matter.
According to the standard player contract, paragraph 3, titled “Other Activities”:
“Without prior written consent of the Club, Player will not play football or engage in activities related to football otherwise than for Club or engage in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury. Player represents that he has special, exceptional and unique knowledge, skill, ability, and experience as a football player, the loss of which cannot be estimated with any certainty and cannot be fairly or adequately compensated by damages. Player therefore agrees that Club will have the right, in addition to any other right which Club may possess, to enjoin Player by appropriate proceedings from playing football or engaging in football-related activities other than for Club or from engaging in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury.”
In short, this rule means that a team has the power to take this to court and block a player from participating in activities that may be a risk to significant injure to the player.
The rule has been taken to a case when the Tennessee Titans obtained a temporary restraining order against Adam “Pacman” Jones when he wanted to become a professional wrestler while serving his suspension. The case was resolved when Jones said he wouldn’t participate in any wrestling activities.
This isn’t the first time the WWE and NFL have crossed paths before, either. Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor appeared at WrestleMania XI in 1995 where he took on Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event.
Somewhere Bill Belichick with his hoodie on is having a secret meeting with other Sith Lords discussing what to do with their outlandish tight end. It’s probably not happening, but it’s still fun to think about isn’t it?
Featured Image via WWE
