The NFL has seen some incredible tight ends grace the gridiron throughout its history. Shannon Sharpe and Tony Gonzalez are widely recognized as the greatest at the position from past eras. In the modern age, Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce are jousting for the tight end’s GOAT mantle.
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The two fun-loving players sat down for a conversation ahead of Super Bowl LIX. Gronkowski, a FOX Sports analyst, didn’t bring up his and Kelce’s claims to GOAT status.
However, he did add to the ever-growing GOAT debate between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady by asking Kelce who he thinks the GOAT is. Kelce laughed before siding with his own signal-caller.
“You want to do this right now? I’m going to say [Mahomes] is, but I’m biased toward what I see in the building… but I know there’s a pretty valid argument [for Brady].”
Gronk said he was “also a little biased” in his thoughts on the matter. That’s understandable, as he played his entire 11-year career with Brady. Mahomes has been Kelce’s quarterback for the past seven seasons. It remains to be seen if Kelce, 35, will continue playing following Super Bowl LIX.
Tonight’s result, however, will have zero impact on Kelce’s Hall of Fame candidacy. He’s a surefire lock for Canton whenever he decides he’s done.
He told Gronkowski he wanted “a lot of individual success and accolades” when he was younger. Now that he’s on the back nine of his career, though, he’s not concerned about offensive production. He wants to be recognized as a quality teammate and community influence.
“What I want my legacy to be is, ‘how great of a teammate was he? How awesome was he in the community of Kansas City? Did he make the game and the NFL better? Did he transcend the game?’ Nowadays, I just don’t even think about stats. I just want to go out there and do my best every single play for the guy next to me.”
Kelce did not record a single reception in the first half of Super Bowl LIX. In the process, his Chiefs fell behind 24-0 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
He’ll have to make magic with Patrick Mahomes if they’re going to overcome the massive deficit and complete their Super Bowl three-peat.
