“Donkey Anointing the President”: Fans Slay Rob Gronkowski for “Anointing” Baker Mayfield as Tom Brady’s Successor at Tampa Bay

Legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski is not done with the NFL after all. Even though he is not active in the league anymore, the four-time Super Bowl winner is imparting precious knowledge and giving important advice to other players. After giving his opinion on Joe Burrow’s contract extension, the former New England Patriots TE recently gave his honest opinion about Baker Mayfield on Up and Adams.

The former Heisman winner has big shoes to fill as he signed a contract to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the free agency period. Mayfield signed a team-friendly deal worth just $4 million for one season. Reflecting on what the future looks like for Mayfield in Tampa Bay, Gronkowski made several points while interacting with Kay Adams. However, some of them didn’t go down well with a few fans.

Rob Gronkowski put on his mentor cap to guide Baker Mayfield

As Tom Brady retired in February, the Brady Era of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to an end. Therefore, the Bucs signed Mayfield and Kyle Trask as their quarterbacks, and now they both will battle for the starting role. However, Gronkowski is sure that Mayfield will get an extended run as Bucs’ main QB.

“I think he’ll be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Bucs going into the season. The only way that I can see the Bucs pulling him is if he just absolutely plays horrendous, which I don’t think he will. I think the Bucs are going to put him in a position to succeed. There will be competition between him and Kyle going into training camp, which that they want.”

Gronkie went on to add that Mayfield doesn’t really need to be a larger than life hero for the Bucs just because he is replacing the GOAT. “Baker just needs to be, you know, the Baker that he was when he was with the Rams, and he just doesn’t need to be a hero. He just needs to protect the ball and don’t turn it over and he will succeed,” he stated, adding that if he follows this advice, the Bucs will make their way to the playoffs for sure. 

Gronk giving success advice to Baker Mayfield leads to troll fest on Twitter

Gronk also stated that Kyle will make life tough for Mayfield in the training camp but it will only help the former Rams QB in bringing his best out on the field. However, the star TE’s strong words about what Mayfield needs to do to succeed, how he’s sure that Baker will start for Tampa, and how the Bucs will make their way to the playoffs, didn’t really go down well with football fans.

Gronk, with a lot of confidence, anointed Mayfield as Brady’s successor which ignited a troll fest on Twitter. “It’s like a donkey anointing the President. Means absolutely nothing,” a user wrote.

In less than two years, Mayfield has found himself on his third team, now joining the Buccaneers who are in a transitional phase following Brady’s retirement. It will be interesting to see if Baker ends up repaying the faith Gronk and the Bucs’ management have shown in him.