NFL Legend Rob Gronkowski Talks Super Bowl, Patriots, Belichick HOF Snub and More in B/R Interview

Seattle Seahawks fans who are tired of being reminded about their team's Super Bowl XLIX loss to the New England Patriots ahead of Sunday's rematch for the Lombardi Trophy should look away.

Because Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski thinks history is going to repeat itself.

"It's going to be the same score as Super Bowl XLIX, it's going to be Patriots 28 and Seattle 24," Gronkowski told Bleacher Report. "It's not going to go down the same way, but it's going to be the same score."

That was one of the most memorable Super Bowls in recent history with Tom Brady throwing four touchdowns, one of which went to Gronkowski, and Malcolm Butler picking off Russell Wilson at the goal line to clinch the win when Seattle threw the ball instead of giving it to Marshawn Lynch.

Gronkowski doesn't think his former team will need such late dramatics this time around since it is "just going to win the game outright," but he believes the Patriots will be back on top of the football world like they were so many times during his playing days.

This time around will be more of a Cinderella story than the typical New England dynasty talk, though, since the Patriots were 4-13 in each of the previous two campaigns and haven't won a playoff game since the 2018 season when Brady and Gronkowski were still leading the way.

Yet they beat the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen for the AFC East crown on the way to a 14-3 record and then notched postseason victories over the likes of the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos. Quarterback Drake Maye spearheaded the turnaround and was in the middle of MVP discussions in just his second year in the league.

Now he has an opportunity to earn another Lombardi Trophy for the storied franchise, although that will be easier said than done with a looming matchup against a Seahawks team that features a formidable defense, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kenneth Walker and Sam Darnold.

"The matchup I'm looking at is New England's run-stopping defense against the Seahawks' rushing attack," Gronkowski said. "Kenneth Walker has been playing like an absolute beast out there, he's been running the ball angrily. It's tough to tackle a player who is running angry. If they can stop him, hit him in the backfield and not let him get going, I think the Patriots will have a great shot."

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He would know better than most what it takes to succeed on the sport's biggest stage.

After all, Gronkowski's resume includes four First-Team All-Pro selections, five Pro Bowl nods, four seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards and five seasons with double-digit touchdown catches, including when he led the league with 17 in 2011.

But his four Super Bowl rings remain a major reason he is in the discussion for the best tight end in NFL history. He and Brady helped build a dynasty in New England and then added another ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Gronkowski caught two touchdowns in Super Bowl LV.

So what advice does he have for those who will be playing in their first Super Bowl on Sunday?

"I would say ignore all the noise and focus on the game," Gronkowski said. "There's a lot of distractions throughout Super Bowl week, parties, people wanting tickets. Just focus on the game. The only thing that matters for you is the score of the game. Nobody is going to remember the week, everyone is going to remember the game Sunday."

New England players can also turn to their own head coach for advice considering Mike Vrabel won three Super Bowls during his playing career for the Patriots as one of the defensive leaders during the early Brady years.

Now the coach is one win away from further solidifying himself as a Patriots legend with a Lombardi Trophy in his first season as the team's head coach, which would be quite a way to end an incredible turnaround season and perhaps start a long-term partnership with Maye.

"He's done a remarkable job," Gronkowski said of Vrabel. "This turnaround is kind of ridiculous, you don't really see this ever happen with NFL teams. It's because he has his team bought in with his presence and his leadership. They're all on the same page, they're all playing together as a football team. They're not selfish players, it's not about me. It's about how we can win this game.

"I feel like he's a mix between Coach Bill Belichick and Sean McVay. He's got a lot of Coach Belichick in him with the knowledge, but he brings his own aspects by letting his players go out there and play free and be loose. But he's also got the schemes he learned from Coach Belichick."

Any comparison to Belichick is high praise considering he is arguably the greatest coach in NFL history with six Super Bowl titles during his time in New England and two more as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

His 333 regular season and playoff wins are second in league history behind only Don Shula's 347, and his nine conference championships as a head coach is a record for the Super Bowl era.

However, that wasn't enough to make the Hall of Fame this year.

ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported last Monday that Belichick did not receive the 40 of 50 votes needed to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. What's more, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that Patriots owner Robert Kraft also won't be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

"It's just ridiculous," Gronkowski said. "It's absurd. They both deserve to be in it. RKK should have been in it by now, I don't understand why he's not. Ten Super Bowl appearances, some of them before even the Belichick-Brady era. And now he's at a Super Bowl this year. He needs to be in it as soon as possible.

"And with Coach Belichick, from here on out there should be no such thing as a first-ballot Hall of Fame head coach. There just shouldn't be. Just look at his resume. That's all I care about is the resume. And he has the resume."

Still, the Hall of Fame snub won't stop Patriots fans from reflecting back fondly on all the memories of the Belichick era.

And reflecting back fondly was something Gronkowski and fellow NFL legends Joe Montana and Adam Vinatieri did as part of FanDuel's "Last Call for Football" Super Bowl campaign that celebrated the season that was and urged fans to enjoy the last game.

"The partnership has been great," Gronkowski said. "I've been working with FanDuel for years now, starting with the Kick of Destiny. … And now this year we've got FanDuel's Super Bowl campaign, 'Last Call for Football.' It's a celebration of the season's best moments for this year and a rallying cry to enjoy football's final night of the year."

It wasn't the Patriots, but the division-rival Bills who provided Gronkowski with his favorite moment of the season when they overcame a 15-point deficit in the final four minutes of their Week 1 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens thanks to a touchdown pass and run from Josh Allen and a game-winning field goal from Matt Prater.

"My favorite moment of the whole year set the tone for how the NFL season was going to go," Gronkowski said. "It was the Buffalo Bills against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 on Sunday Night Football. The Bills were down big and came back and won the game, and that set the tone saying this NFL season is going to be a great NFL season with tons of memorable plays and games."

If Sunday's Super Bowl is as much of a classic as that opening-week game was, it will be quite the full-circle moment for a memorable NFL season.