After suffering a 21-17 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, players of the New England Patriots would most likely be too depressed and sad to reenter the public spotlight, right? Well, not exactly.
Following the team's loss in the Super Bowl, Rob Gronkowski and other teammates took out their frustrations by heading out that night to a team party. Gronkowski was spotted with his shirt off and partying hard into the Indianapolis night. Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison wasn't a fan of this at all, and took to the airways on Wednesday to voice his opinion about the young player's actions.
"I guarantee you this, if Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Larry Izzo, Richard Seymour or myself had been at that party, [Gronkowski] probably would have got his head rung," Harrison told ESPN Chicago Radio 1000. "There's no reason for that to happen.
"When we lost the Super Bowl, any of my Super Bowl losses, I was so devastated the last thing I ever wanted to do was party, let alone dance or take off your shirt," he said. "It's just immaturity. It's not right. He made a mistake and I'm sure he feels absolutely stupid about it at this point. There's a time and place for everything."(via WEEI)
Harrison, as we all remember was a member of the 2000's Patriots dynasty that won three Super Bowls. Harrison was also a part of the 2007 team that lost the Super Bowl to these Giants, as he was the one who allowed David Tyree to make that infamous helmet catch. You could imagine why he was a little steamed at Gronk for partying away his sorrows.
With veteran leadership a core value of the Patriot dynasty years, he was also not pleased to hear that 11-year veteran Matt Light was also at this party, also with his shirt off.
"The leadership has to step up and someone has to pull [Gronkowski] to the side and say, ‘Look young man, this is inappropriate, this is not the time nor the place. You need to grow up,'" Harrison said. "And that's what it comes down to. I like this kid. I think he's a good kid, works hard, is unselfish. But he made a mistake. ... There's a certain way of representing yourself and your family and that's not the right way." (via WEEI)
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