Brady and Gronk - The Dynamic Duo Making the NFL Fabulous

These flowers represent how beautiful Brady and Gronk are together

So, for all of my posts this week, I wanted to try something a bit different. My wife and I were talking the other day and she told me that I should argue a point that I don't necessarily agree with. All five posts this week will be topics given to me that I have expressed a dislike for to, either my wife or everyone who reads my blog, but I have to give the opposite view. I have to explain why these things are actually true, or that they at least have some good qualities. This is going to be a weird, but also very fun, and maybe even a bit difficult, but I'm up to the task.

Now for my second day of topic sentences from my wife, "the NFL would be a little less fabulous without the dynamic duo: Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski".

Now, first things first, I'm not going to say anything about "deflategate", that has been covered more than enough on the site. Okay, here goes.

First off, let's look at Tom Brady. While I don't think he is necessarily a "dynamic" person, I think his playing is dynamic. He is one of the top three quarterbacks of all time. Love him or hate him, you cannot say that he isn't one of the greatest QB's of all time. He has 4 Super Bowl rings, and if not for two lucky catches he would have six. He has humongous touchdown and yardage numbers. He has a very low interception number. He has been deep in the playoffs the whole time he has been a starter in the NFL. He has come up huge in the biggest moments. The dude is a straight up winner. The way he fits passes into the smallest of windows is absolutely incredible. The receivers and running backs that he has won with is incredible because of how average they are/were. The best receiver he has ever had is Randy Moss, and yes he is a sure fire hall of famer, but other than him, it's slim pickings at receiver. He has won with guys like Deion Branch, Troy Brown, David Givens and Brandon Lloyd as his number one target. Those guys are/were good, but they are nowhere near hall of famers, let alone all pros. The running backs he's had are guys like Fred Taylor, Steven Jackson, Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney. Again, some good players, but no hall of famers. Brady has won with all of these guys, He helped their game as much as they helped his game. He turned these running backs into some of the best receivers out of the backfield. He also turned those receivers into clutch receivers. But, the one constant, dynamic player for the Patriots, who I believe, along with the San Antonio Spurs, are the best run franchises in all of pro sports, has been Tom Brady. He has been the starting QB, save for one injured season, in New England since 2001. And he has been consistently great. There is no denying his incredible play. He is the epitome of a winner. He is a maniac when it comes to film study, practice and staying in shape. He takes multiple pay cuts to make his team better. He will gladly take less money if it means that the Patriots can bring in a big time player. The fact that he was a sixth round draft pick, an afterthought by the "experts" and not even the primary starter while at Michigan makes his amazing NFL career that much more dynamic. We cannot deny his greatness anymore. Tom Brady is an all timer, no ifs ands or buts about it.

A few years ago the Patriots got this little known tight end from the University of Arizona named Rob Gronkowski. This is where the "dynamic" applies to both, his game and his personality. The first time I saw Gronk play, I couldn't believe how big he was. He was so much taller and stronger than the poor defensive backs and linebackers trying to guard them. Not only was he taller, but he was stronger and faster than them too. He runs like a gazelle and he is as strong as JJ Watt. He also has incredible hands. If the ball is anywhere near him, he will catch it. The ball can be a little high or low or to his back side, if he gets a hand on it, it is a catch. He is also, possibly, the greatest redzone weapon of all time. As I already stated, he is bigger, stronger and faster than anyone guarding him, and he can leap and get open in the redzone with an ease that seems unfair. People are literally trying to injure him to get him out of games. No one ever tackles him fairly. Everyone goes after his knees or ankles, intent on hurting him to get him out of the game. Gronk was a godsend to Tom Brady and the Patriots. No matter what mid level receivers or running backs they have, they still have Gronk. He, much like Brady, is a first ballot hall of famer and an all timer at his position.

Then, look at his personal life. This dude just has a great time living his glamorous life. He has his own yacht party with live music and beer pong tournaments. He is super close with his family, that seem just as crazy as he is. He knows his limits when it comes to partying, and he goes right to the edge, but never over it. In season, he is the consummate professional. Out of season, he's a party animal, in every som Brady and Rob GroTense of the word. He is who Johnny Manziel wishes he could be. Manziel doesn't know when to stop where Gronk knows when and how to stop. I usually don't like "bros" like Gronk, but he is almost impossible not to like, both as a football player and a person. He loves his life and he knows that his time in the NFL will be short, so he is living it up both on the field and off. Gronk is just an all around fun dude.

I know that my wife and I will get heat about this because a lot of people hate the Patriots, but I don't think you can read this and tell me that I'm wrong. These two are dynamic, all time great football players and Gronk has a very dynamic personality. It's true, and even the haters can't deny that. Try as they might.

Ty with a little help from his wife

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Like Gronk, Ty is known to walk around shirtless and has had softcore fan fiction written about him. Learn all about it by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Laremy Tunsil and the Clown Show at ESPN

Artist rendering of draft meeting at ESPN

So, I had the weekend to think about it and I'm now going to give my take on the Laremy Tunsil slide in last week's draft. As you may know by now, Tunsil was the only player in this draft that I had any expectations for. I figured that he was the most ready and best prepared to be a pro football player. The whole bong gas mask and text message debacle between him and his coach have not changed my view on Tunsil, the player. I still think that he is going to be an all pro caliber offensive lineman that will be a quality to great starter for many years in the pros. He is a humongous road grater, and smoking weed and getting 300 bucks from a coach does not deter my views on that.

Do you know some other players that slid in the draft because of off field weed issues, Warren Sapp and Randy Moss. Sapp had a much similar slide to Tunsil. Sapp was projected as a top five pick, but then some people said he was a weed smoker and he failed a drug test prior to the draft. So, instead of being picked very early, he slid to the middle of the first round, 13 if I remember correctly, same as Tunsil. I think both Sapp and the Buccaneers were extremely thrilled and couldn't have cared less about him smoking pot. Sapp was an all time great defensive lineman, who put in work, and is now a hall of famer. Randy Moss had an even bigger tumble after a failed drug test, and many people letting the NFL know that he liked to get high. Moss slid all the way out of the top ten, teens and ended up in the 20's, 22 if I remember correctly, to the Vikings. Remember his rookie year? Remember his time in New England? Remember his career? Sure, he could be a headache, but he too put in work and he was dominate. Moss may be the best deep ball threat the NFL has ever had. Moss made Daunte Culpepper a pro bowl QB. Moss revived Randall Cunningham's career. Moss was part of the last decent Oakland Raiders team. Moss and Tom Brady were one of the most lethal threats of all time. So, yeah, I don't think Randy Moss' affection to marijuana really made him any less great at football. He too, if he isn't already, is a hall of famer.

So, if I were a betting man, I'd say that Tunsil will have a career that will be at least comparable to a long time starter in the NFL, with Warren Sapp on offense being his best case scenario. I don't care at all about the video that surfaced and the text thread that surfaced, it was the timing and the way the "experts" at ESPN and the NFL Network handled the whole situation. The NFL Network did a "better" job, kind of burying the story and not making it out to be a humongous deal. But, ESPN took the exact opposite direction. They talked this story to death. They showed the video over and over and over again. They constantly put the text thread on TV for all to see. They continually questioned Tunsil's maturity with how he handled the situation. And, do you know who they blamed? They put it all on Laremy Tunsil. They didn't say one bad thing about Ole Miss, or any of the adults that were involved in this whole thing. Yes, Tunsil is now a professional, but I feel like he handled this whole thing as well as one could imagine. He didn't deny or confirm anything. He didn't blame anyone but himself. He owned up to his mistakes. Yes, he said he took money from a coach at Ole Miss, but I didn't read that as him passing the blame, I read it as him telling what he believed to be the truth.

ESPN did not see it that way. This further makes me so sure about the demise of this network that I wrote about last week. They had their "experts" bad mouthing Tunsil left and right. Chris Berman called him out as being immature. Trent Dilfer, who is reportedly leaving ESPN, said he didn't seem ready for professional life. Jon Gruden, who if you aren't a QB, he doesn't care about you, said that he wouldn't have picked him at all, which is insane. But, the most repulsive and sorry excuse for a reporter was that dip shit Todd McShay. McShay basically said that, since he told the truth, he clearly wasn't ready to be a pro. He said that his people didn't have him well enough prepared to handle a press conference of this magnitude. He called him immature. All of this because Tunsil told the truth. McShay seems to think that, if you come out and tell the truth, you are unprepared to be a pro football player. He'd rather Tunsil lied than said anything at all. This is absolutely terrible "reporting" and "journalism" from a guy that is clearly an amateur, AKA, the future of ESPN. This makes McShay look like the complete and udder moron that is most definitely is.

Naturally, Roger Goodell had to give his two cents. He said, and I quote, "this is what makes the draft so exciting. It's unpredictable". What a god damn idiot. I'm sure that Tunsil was thrilled and excited that every time he got passed on, he lost another million dollars. I'm sure he was so happy with the "unpredictableness" that cost him over 6 million dollars. I'm sure his family loved it as well, seeing one of their loved ones suffering and having a panic attack. God, Roger Goodell is such an idiot. Why is he not fired yet?

I don't understand the personal attack on Tunsil from ESPN basically. He's a kid. I know he's a pro, and stuff like this shouldn't happen, but they spent a thousand more minutes on this than they did on D'Angelo Russell secretly filming a teammate. They have not once talked about all the Peyton Manning allegations. They spend little to no time on the fact that last years number one pick, Jameis Winston, had many, many more criminal charges before last years draft. They barely, if ever, blame that piece of garbage Johnny Manziel for all the crazy stuff he does everyday. Basically, ESPN will only talk about Tunsil's "immaturity" and "deflategate".

ESPN sucks.

Really quick, why is no one going after Ole Miss? They have clearly done something wrong and possibly illegal, according to the NCAA. The bong gas mask thing isn't their fault, that's just a dumb kid making a very dumb decision and letting someone film it. Also, why was there a confederate flag in the background during that video? That's terrifying. And no one is talking about that either. But, clearly Ole Miss was giving a player money, and that is against the rules. That is not allowed, but apparently, they were giving Tunsil's family money every year that he was playing football there. Also, they got really good, really fast. And it was all of the sudden. One day Ole miss was an also ran, the next, they were pulling in five stars and competing in the hyper competitive SEC. Ole Miss has clearly broken several rules, but don't go to ESPN for any coverage of that because they feel the need to scold Laremy Tunsil some more. This is a joke.

So, I think, after all of this, Tunsil is still going to be a very good to great pro player. I think he has handled this whole thing the best way he knew how and he did a decent job. I'm not too worried about his love for pot because I think he will put in the necessary work to be a good pro, much like Sapp and Moss. ESPN and their panel of "experts" are the bad guys here. They are terrible "journalists" and "reporters". They clearly have no clue what they are doing and they are a mess. Just remember how ESPN, Mel Kiper, Jon Gruden, Trent Dilfer, Chris Berman, Todd McShay and Roger Goodell treated Tunsil when we look at him in five years. Tunsil will be an all pro and all the stooges at ESPN will either be fired, the network will be gone, or they will all have moved on to some lower level of the sports journalism world. I guarantee it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the golden years of ESPN, back when Chris Berman stuck out as being the lone idiot in the crowd. Now Berman blends in with the rest. Ty is on twitter and you should follow him @tykulik.