Jackie MacMullan, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Gronk's long road back to greatness

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Gordon Gronkowski Sr. was hanging out at Chicago's O'Hare Airport last Sunday, killing time while waiting for his connecting flight. The day before, his youngest son, Glenn, had caught four passes for 92 yards and a touchdown in Kansas State's 23-0 throttling of Texas .

After the game, Glenn told his father he would be featured in Sports Illustrated.

It had been a good Gronk football weekend.

It was about to get better.

As Gordy settled into his seat at the gate, he realized another son, Rob, was torturing the Chicago Bears on every monitor at O'Hare. Gronk would finish 9-for-9 in targets (149 yards and 3 touchdowns) for the Patriots, culminated by a 36-yard romp to the end zone in which he tossed safety Ryan Mundy aside like a wet dishrag.

"I'm watching that catch and I forgot where I was,'' Gordy confessed. "I started yelling, 'Go, go, go, go!' Then I realized there were a thousand people around me rooting for the other guys, so I kinda just shrank down back in my seat.''

Don't expect Rob Gronkowski to do the same when the Patriots host the Denver Broncos on Sunday in the most widely anticipated game of their season.

The matchup draws the inevitable (and warranted) attention toward Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but the real game-changer on this day could be Gronk.

When he's healthy, New England's offense springs to life. It also becomes multidimensional because of the attention he draws. Remember Brady's 49-yard touchdown bomb to Shane Vereen in the Jets game? One of the reasons he was so open was New York became occupied with slowing up Gronkowski. Tim Wright is positively giddy about the prospects of continuing with their successful two-tight-end sets.

Gronk is already expecting double- or even triple-teams on Sunday.

"Excellent,'' he said. "Just means someone else will be open.''

No tight end in the NFL has caught more touchdown passes than Gronkowski since 2010. Think about how remarkable that is considering he's missed 14 games the past two seasons.

Multiple injuries (and a subsequent infection) to his arm, compounded by a torn ACL and MCL in his knee, led to legitimate questions about whether his best days were already behind him at age 25. Gronkowski underwent back surgery while at the University of Arizona, and there was concern about how much more pounding his already-compromised body could take.

"I got a lot of stuff,'' he said, smiling. "But it's not going to stop me.''

Gronkowski has gone to great lengths to remain upbeat whenever anyone has asked about the setbacks and the long rehab he has endured over the last two years. In a moment of candor on Thursday, he acknowledged how long and arduous the journey has been.

"I was miserable on many, many days,'' Gronk said. "I just wished I could go for a walk in the park. Simple things. But my body wouldn't let me.''

His father confirmed that: "It's been a tough, grueling haul. There were some real low moments. But there was never a doubt in Rob's mind he'd be back.''

The Gronkowski boys know all too well how injuries can shatter dreams. Rob's older brother Chris tore his hamstring, which ended his career, and brother Dan lost his chance to remain in the NFL due to a torn pectoral muscle.

"It's weird, because it seems like yesterday they were still in the league with me,'' Rob said. "I loved watching their games when our games were done. And now, just like that, they're gone. It makes me understand what a great opportunity I have, because one bad injury and you're out of the league.''

When Chris saw Rob crumple to ground in December 2013 after then-Cleveland Browns safety TJ Ward landed a direct hit on Gronk's knee, his mind immediately started racing to bad places.

"The No. 1 thing that takes guys out of the NFL is injuries,'' said Chris. "When I saw that hit, I'm thinking: 'Is it an ACL? Is it shattered?' You worry because you know how those things can go.''

Gronkowski said his lowest moment was in the immediate aftermath of the injury. His conversations with others who had been through it did little to allay his fears. "I'm sitting there with my knee blown out and I had no idea what to expect,'' he said. "It took a little while to understand what it meant and how long it would take and what I needed to do to get back.''

Rob Gronkowski was hardly a recluse during his time away from the game. He made many public appearances, some for charity, some simply for fun.

He's very, very good at having fun.

"He has a hard time sitting on the couch,'' said Chris. "When he was in college and he had back surgery, the only way he didn't go crazy was to go out and do stuff.

"Same thing with the knee. His way to cope was to get out and do every event possible to keep his mind off the injury.''

Some of the "events'' during his injuries included body slamming his buddy in Vegas with a cast still on his arm, posing shirtless in Baton Rouge with a Budweiser, and preening with Johnny Manziel and a cluster of bikini-clad women in Vegas. Naturally, these photo ops led to questions of whether Gronkowski was putting in the necessary time to return to the football field.

"I heard that,'' he confirmed, "and it's annoying as heck. They don't know the backstory. They don't see me get up out of bed every morning and go to rehab and fight through that.''

Gronkowski played in just 44 percent of the team's snaps (38 of 86) in Week 1 and even fewer (28 of 67) in Week 2. According to Gordy, that was all by design.

"Coach [Bill] Belichick had a specific game plan on how to bring him back, and he let us know there would be no rushing him, no pressure on him,'' said Gordy. "There was a lot of talk back and forth with everybody.

"They handled it in such a smart way. There was no panicking, no 'We need to get Rob out there now.' And look at the results. It was handled perfectly.''

Gordy said reports that Gronk's family and the Patriots were at odds over his previous treatment and recovery were "blown out of proportion.''

"Bill and Rob were talking the whole time,'' Gordy said. "I'm not sure why everyone wanted to suggest differently.''

By gradually integrating Gronkowski back into the mix, his father asserts, it gave his son time to acclimate  physically and mentally. Gordy said the first time Rob truly looked like his old self was in the Kansas City loss.

"I felt he was on his way when he dragged those three guys into the end zone,'' he said. "That was the first real sign I saw that told me the leg had healed properly, that he could carry weight on it.''

Chris Gronkowski wasn't ready to declare Rob fully back until last week against the Bears, when he was an equal-opportunity humiliator to linebackers and safetys.

"He had a lot of good plays up to that point,'' said Chris, "but there were little things happening that told me he wasn't quite 100 percent.

"But when he threw that safety off against Chicago, that's when I said, 'OK, he's back.'''

Chris Gronkowski won't be making any more comebacks. He retired because of his injuries but will draw an NFL pension based on four years of service. Brother Dan retired vested with three years of service.

"It's unbelievable to me that Rob has been in the league five years already and he's only 25,'' said Gordy. "People want to call him injury-prone, but what happened with the forearm was a fluke. Then he got the infection. The knee injury was bad, but it's not like he's had multiple knee issues. It was the first one.''

For the moment, there's only one Gronk left in the NFL. At some point on Sunday, Rob could find himself lined up against Ward, the guy who took him out last December but wears a Broncos uniform now. He may run into old teammate Aqib Talib, who helps anchor the Broncos secondary.

It doesn't matter, really,'' his brother Chris noted. "Gronk plans on being physical with whomever lines up opposite him. It's when he's at his best.''

Chris will be in the stands watching. So will his father, Gordy. He lives for these moments but can't help fretting about the violent nature of the game he and his sons have grown to love so much.

"I pray for my kids all the time,'' Gordy Gronkowski admitted. "Especially on Sunday.''

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