Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady won four Super Bowls together. The duo connected 620 times throughout their careers for a total of 9,275 yards and 93 touchdowns. But the 2020 title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was perhaps the trickiest for the pair to secure.
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On the latest episode of Up & Adams with Kay Adams, Gronk reflected on his last Super Bowl with Brady, saying it was the bye week that changed everything. At first, they were struggling, and quite significantly at that.
Then came their Week 13 break, which, according to Rob, gave them the much-needed respite.
“I think it was that bye week we had; we lost a couple of games then had a late bye week,” Gronk explained. “I’m pretty sure we lost to the Chiefs, our last regular season loss. They dominated us in the first half, then we almost came back. Then we went on to a bye week.”
Was there ONE specific thing that led to the #Bucs 8-game win streak/SB run in 2020??@RobGronkowski gives his POV ️@heykayadams @Buccaneers | #WeAreTheKrewe pic.twitter.com/vP6RxNDGI7
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) December 4, 2024
So, was the bye week a breath of fresh air? For many teams, yes. The toll of a season can wear on a player’s body and mind, and it’s important to take some time off from the game every once in a while — something Gronkowski thought the Bucs needed at the time.
“The pressure with Tom going down there, myself going down there, with the talk of us being so great. I felt like we all just needed a little break from football. You know when you walk away from something and come back to it four days later and everything is clicking? Well, that’s what happened with us.”
It’s a feeling that we all are familiar with: being overwhelmed. Most experts believe that when you feel overwhelmed, the best thing to do is stop what you’re doing and come back to it later. This gives our brains time to process things that we may not be able to see when we are in the thick of it. It was a strategy that helped the 2020 Bucs immensely.
Gronkowski talked about how everyone on the team either went to the beach that week or did their own thing. And when they all came back to the Tampa Bay facility, everyone was on the same page. The Bucs would ring off eight straight wins between the regular season and playoffs en route to a Super Bowl ring. Including a redemption victory against the Kansas City Chiefs during the big game.
“It was an unbelievable run that will be remembered forever,” Gronk asserted. He may be right. It just goes to show that sometimes the biggest enemy is yourself in sports, and that the bye week can be a massive turning point in the season for some NFL teams.
