Rob Gronkowski: Patriots' Star Shouldn't Need to Defend Post-Super Bowl Dancing

Rob Gronkowski recently defended his post-Super Bowl dancing actions, though he should never have had to do so.

Gronkowski recently came under fire for partying with friends and family after the New England Patriots lost Super Bowl XLVI. 

Specifically, Rodney Harrison said:

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(Gronkowski) disrespected himself. It's just immaturity. It's not right. He made a mistake and I'm sure he feels absolutely stupid about it at this point. There's a time and place for everything.

"

I respect the heck out of Harrison as a player who gave his all to the game. That being said, he's off his rocker on this one.

For starters, the Patriots knew what they were getting when they drafted the young kid in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft.

When he was finally called up to the stage, he ended up putting on a helmet, getting his brothers together on the stage and hooting it up right there on national television, chanting, "Gronk, Gronk, Gronk!"

I saw a young man who was fully aware of how incredibly awesome his opportunity to play football for a living actually is. He didn't hold anything back, allowing the entire world to see his jubilation at getting paid to catch passes from Tom Brady. 

It was refreshing, to say the least.

Then, a bit further down the road, Gronkowski was lambasted by many for some suggestive photos that came out featuring adult film star BiBi Jones and Gronk, an incident he ended up apologizing for, as well.

Listen, I'm not sitting here endorsing Gronk's actions, but I will defend his right to act like the 22-year-old young man he is until I'm blue in the face. He isn't married, doesn't have any children and is only doing what any other young man who has a lust for life and a responsibility-free life would do.

Gronkowski shouldn't have to defend his right to party. It's not like he's some chump who slacks off to the detriment of the team.

Far from it!

It's clear from all we can see with our eyes and what we've heard from teammates that Gronk is a consummate professional when it comes to the gridiron. He keeps himself in phenomenal shape, he plays with discipline when he's in the game and he catches touchdowns at a record-setting pace.

In his first public statements regarding his post-Super Bowl partying, Gronkowski said:

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Hard work and dedication, I always put my job first before anything, no matter what it is. I'm always just dedicating myself.

I have a lot of fun with my family. It was the first time I got to see them in a while. We were just having fun with my brothers and stuff...Unfortunately we didn't win and that was the number one goal. That's all we did, was work...I was in the training room 24/7 getting healthy. Same with everybody else. Unfortunately we just came up short.

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It's not right that he had to defend his work ethic or anything else in this situation. It's not like he was found in an opium den full of underage girls. He loves to party with his family, as the draft and the post-Super Bowl party footage clearly shows.

Gronkowski didn't do anything wrong, and it's a shame he has to answer questions as if he had.

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