Rob Gronkowski Posts Touching Tribute to Kobe Bryant's Legacy
By Jackson Thompson
Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski paid his respects to Kobe Bryant over social media on Sunday.
Following the news of Bryant and his daughter Gianna's death in a Los Angeles helicopter crash on Sunday, Gronkowski took to Facebook to recount a touching memory with Bryant.
What a sad day today. Kobe, you are a legend. I remember the time I was in the front row of a Celtics-Lakers game and...
Posted by Rob Gronkowski -Gronk on Sunday, January 26, 2020
Based on previous tales, it seems likely Gronk is remembering a specific event from early 2012.
Gronkowski once encountered Bryant when the Lakers travelled to Boston to take on the Celtics. The meeting came around the time Gronkowski and the Patriots were defeated in Super Bowl XLVI by the New York Giants, capping off Gronk's record-setting season in 2011.
Bryant recognized Gronkowski's talent, and even went out of his way to try and recruit him to his favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I said the Eagles need a tight end," Bryant said in an interview with WEEI radio in Boston in 2012. "I'm recruiting. He's a freak athlete. He shouted at me and I shouted back. It's fun to have those conversations with athletes you respect."
Both Bryant and Gronkowski became household names as athletes during their playing careers, and transcended their sports and rivalries into the mainstream of American culture.