Rob Gronkowski thinks Terry Bradshaw knew what he was doing.
During Sunday’s episode of Fox NFL Sunday, the Steelers legend went viral for his reaction to Gronkowski proclaiming Cardinals star Trey McBride is the best tight end in the NFL. “What about McBride?” a dismayed Bradshaw responded, as it appeared he hadn’t been paying attention to what Gronkowski had just said.
Clips of the exchange quickly spread across social media, with a post from Awful Announcing generating 1.4 million views.
But while many assumed that Bradshaw had made yet another gaffe, Gronkowski insists that the Hall of Fame quarterback was in on the joke.
“I think Terry Bradshaw got us all,” Gronkowski told Front Office Sports’s Baker Machado. “He wanted to throw us off. … I was like, ‘Yeah, Trey McBride, in my eyes, is the best tight end in football right now.’ And then Terry Bradshaw hit us with, ‘What about the McBride guy?’ And we’re all like, ‘Wait a second.’”
The former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end admitted that Bradshaw’s response even made him second-guess himself.
“I thought in my mind, ‘Did I not pick McBride to be the best tight end in football?’” Gronkowski said. “But that’s just kind of his gimmick. He just kind of throws you off, you know? He’s asking you a question that you just talked about to see if you’re paying attention. … But that’s why we love Terry Bradshaw. He’s a character, he’s got a great sense of humor, and I love being alongside him.”
By this point, Bradshaw’s errors—whether real or intentional—have become a staple of Fox’s weekly pregame show. And it doesn’t appear that will be changing anytime soon, as the 78-year-old told Sports Business Radio in June that he doesn’t see retirement in his near future.
