Venus Williams, JR Smith Take Down Rob Gronkowski in 'Game On' Debut

In one of his last acts before returning to the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on the premiere episode of CBS' Game On.

Unlike most of his football career, Gronk was handed a resounding defeat. 

The show pits two teams of three athletes and celebrities against each other in creative takes on traditional game show formats—for the trivia portion, contestants had to match bizarre quotes with the athletes who said them. On Wednesday, Gronkowski teamed up with comedians Bobby Lee and Gabriel Iglesias to take on Venus Williams, JR Smith and comedian Ian Karmel.

Things started off great for Gronkowski, but they quickly went downhill.

In the first challenge, the NFL star squared off against Smith in a bid to see who could keep a stationary bicycle above 100 RPM the longest. The loser had a massive water balloon popped on his head. 

It's safe to say Gronkowski's conditioning should be fine when he gets to training camp. 

Unfortunately, Team Gronk didn't perform as well as its namesake. Perhaps they would've have had Gronkowski been allowed to participate in the football portion of the evening. 

The trivia round went to Team Venus, who then surged ahead in the final strength challenge to win 13-8.

Sunnier days are ahead for Gronkowski, as he'll reunite with quarterback Tom Brady in Tampa Bay this season.