New England Patriots: Rob Gronkowski Reflects on Incredible Rookie Season

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on Sirius XM NFL Radio's The End Zone with co-hosts Alex Marvez and Jim Miller this past Saturday. 

Marvez and Miller touched on a plethora of subjects with Gronkowski, but for the most part, they reflected on Gronk's stellar rookie campaign. 

“It’s definitely crazy thinking about it. From the first day I was drafted, I didn’t think anything like that was going to happen,” Gronkowski said as he reflected on his rookie season. 

Gronk may be right, as no one expected that New England's second-round selection out of Arizona would put up huge numbers during his rookie year. Gronk played in all 16 games catching 42 balls for 546 yards while scoring a franchise record for rookie tight ends, 10 touchdowns. 

One player that Gronk credited the most was veteran tight end Alge Crumpler who acted like his mentor. 

“He’s the man—he helped us out with everything from day one. I don’t think we would have had a year as rookie tight ends—that Aaron [Hernandez] and I had—without him."

As Gronk's interview concluded, he touched upon the player ogranized team workouts that have been put in place due to the NFL lockout:

“It’s not like it would be if there was no lockout, but we’re definitely still doing things just so we’re still in football shape and we feel the game of football,” Gronk said. “So right when we go back into it, we won’t be like ‘Whoa!’ We’re definitely doing things—throwing, running routes, drills that combine with your position.”

Gronkowski will be entering his second year in the league and will look to improve on his impressive numbers from his rookie season.

Standing in at 6'6", he's a very large target for Tom Brady, and it's certainly a good sign that Brady and Gronk have developed quite the chemistry in just one year. Just imagine how productive Gronkowski will be next season after another training camp with the reigning MVP Brady.  

This article was first seen at PatriotsPlus.net. Be sure to follow Tony Santorsa on Twitter @   TonySantorsa.