During his time in the NFL, former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end and future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski had a great deal of success against the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially in Pittsburgh.
As a rookie in 2010, Gronkowski had three touchdowns against the Steelers at then-Heinz Field, putting himself on the map in a major way with quarterback Tom Brady.
In seven career games against the Steelers, Gronkowski’s teams went 5-2, and he had a big hand in that, hauling in 41 receptions for 685 yards and eight touchdowns. Those are eye-popping numbers.
But there’s one play that stands out in his career because it came against Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. It was a largely forgotten 17-yard reception late in the first half of the 2011 matchup at then-Heinz Field.
On the play, Gronkowski won on his route against cornerback Cortez Allen, catching a pass from Brady. From there, Polamalu jumped on the tight end’s back before Allen and fellow Steelers safety Ryan Clark arrived to get Gronkowski on the ground.
Here’s that play.
Appearing on the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast with former New England teammate Julian Edelman, Gronkowski recalled the play while discussing the greatness of Polamalu. He ribbed the former Steelers star safety for taking him for a ride, exaggerating the circumstances quite a bit, too.
“The play I’m talking about was my second year in the NFL. I did an in-cut, caught the ball. Troy Polamalu went to tackle me. He jumped on my back, and I brought him for a ride for five freaking yards. Troy Polamalu went for a ride,” Gronkowski said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Troy Polamalu trying to tackle me. I got an extra five, six yards and I’m still waiting for him to gimme that change for the ride.
“You know when you put the quarter in a tip? Where the horse, he goes giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, horse.”
It certainly was quite the picture with Polamalu on Gronkowski’s back, doing everything he could to try and get the big, physical tight end on the ground. But it wasn’t as great as Gronkowski recalls.
If you look at the video above, Gronkowski carried Polamalu for maybe a yard before Clark and Allen arrived.
Though Gronkowski didn’t hesitate to rib Polamalu for the play, he made sure to pay respect to the all-time great, calling him one of the best players he ever played against.
Prior to the ribbing of Polamalu for going for a ride on his back, Gronkowski recalled during his senior season at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh that he attended a football banquet where Polamalu spoke to high school players. During that banquet, Gronkowski says he nearly went up to Polamalu to introduce himself and tell Polamalu he’d be seeing him in the NFL in a few years.
He ultimately didn’t do it because he was awestruck, but in the end, Gronkowski did end up seeing Polamalu multiple times in the NFL, having a great deal of success against the Steelers over the years.
Check out the full discussion of Polamalu between Gronkowski and Edelman below.
