In the nearly 60-year history of the Super Bowl, no NFL team has won three consecutive championships. The Kansas City Chiefs, led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, have an opportunity to become the first franchise to accomplish the feat when they meet the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
Rob Gronkowski acknowledges how difficult it is to win three Super Bowls in a row, or even two. While the former tight end won four championships in his career — three with the New England Patriots, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all with his pal Tom Brady — he never won the big game in back-to-back years.
“How difficult it is to win three championships, let alone one championship? You’re going against the best of the best every single week, week in and week out. And just to win one championship takes so much time and commitment and dedication, let alone to win three, it’s just amazing,” he says in an interview with TODAY.com to discuss his role as a pitchman for Bounty.
Gronkowski credits the cohesiveness of the Chiefs franchise, including the longtime pairing of Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, for “setting the bar and setting the standard to a whole other level, the way that they can just find ways to win games.”
He considers Mahomes, who has won three Super Bowls to date in his eight-year career, to be the best player in the NFL right now and says the current decade will go down as the “‘Patrick Mahomes Era’ decade.” If Mahomes, 29, can add another Vince Lombardi Trophy to his resume, he’ll be up there with Brady in conversations about the greatest quarterback of all time, Gronkowski says.
“He’s not yet on Brady’s scale yet, but he’s definitely going to be in debates,” he adds.
As it happens, Mahomes is already at the center of debates comparing his accomplishments to Brady’s in the lead-up to this year’s Super Bowl. Brady has a clear edge when it comes to championships — he won seven Super Bowls, more than any player in NFL history.
Gronkowski also points out that Brady twice defeated Mahomes in the postseason, including in the 2021 Super Bowl. Still, he believes Mahomes is building a strong case for himself.
“I think Patrick Mahomes is well on his way. I’m going to be a little biased, because Tom Brady is my guy and he is the greatest of all time, and I saw him put in the work day in and day out, and he deserves to be known as the greatest of all time,” he says.
Gronkowski expects Mahomes to move closer to Brady’s Super Bowl win total Feb. 9, predicting a 30-26 victory for the Chiefs over the Eagles in part because of the quarterback’s track record against the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio. Mahomes is a perfect 8-0 in his career in matchups where Fangio served as either an opposing head coach or coordinator, according to ESPN.
“Patrick Mahomes is just too skilled and has too much knowledge to not be able to know what to do again versus (Fangio’s) defense,” he says.
Gronkowski will take part in the Super Bowl festivities with his involvement in Fox’s coverage of the game. He’s also returned for his third year as a pitchman for Bounty ahead of the Super Bowl (he proudly calls himself the “Bounty Man” while wearing a green suit during this interview).
He filmed an ad with former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who plays Gronkowski’s “wingman” as the latter wipes Brees’ face and fingers with a Bounty towel when they’re smeared with chicken wing sauce.
Gronkowski says he and Brees shared a funny moment in between takes.
“I just whispered in his ear and it made everyone laugh right on the scene, and it made even Drew Brees laugh. It broke him out of his shell. And I go, ‘Hey, Drew, you should have been my quarterback.’”
A video posted to Bounty’s Instagram account in early January captures the type of witty interaction Gronkowski describes.
