Rob Gronkowski has done it all -- he’s a four-time Super Bowl champion, a five-time All-Pro and even won the 24/7 title with the WWE at WrestleMania 36.
Add world-record holder to Gronk’s list of achievements.
Gronkowski, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ tight end, caught a football dropped 600 feet from a helicopter on Friday, putting himself into the Guinness World Records book, the Arizona Daily Star reported. Gronkowski returned to his alma mater, the University of Arizona, ahead of the football team’s spring game Saturday, the newspaper reported.
.@RobGronkowski returns in style for his last catch in Arizona Stadium! @CoachJeddFisch @GWR #BearDown #ItsPersonal pic.twitter.com/7jqCqyL9lg
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 24, 2021
Gronkowski’s record still needs to be certified by Guinness. According to Guinness, the world record for “highest altitude catch of an American football” was set on Jan. 24, 2017, when Tyler Toney caught a ball dropped 573 feet from a helicopter hovering over a field at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
Donning the No. 48 he wore as a Wildcat, Gronkowski trotted onto the field Friday evening and waited for the ball to drop.
Gronkowski dropped his first two attempts before hauling in the third, NFL.com reported. After corralling the ball, he gave it a Gronk Spike and was swarmed by the Arizona players.
“Every time you step on the field, you’ve got to raise that bar to another level, baby,” Gronkowski told the team after his catch. “And I just raised that bar to this level.”
University of Arizona alum Tedy Bruschi, who coached against Gronkowski in Saturday’s spring game, filmed the record-breaking sequence, the Daily Star reported.
Gronk’s record-setting catch is his first reception since he had six for 67 yards and two touchdowns in Super Bowl LV.
A catch for 200-yards is mind-boggling. For perspective, Gronkowski’s longest catch during an NFL game came on Nov. 15, 2015, when he had a 79-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown against the New York Giants. Tom Brady threw that pass as the New England Patriots prevailed, 27-26.
Friday’s reception was just as impressive. To cap it off, Gronk led Team Red to victory in Arizona’s spring game.
Cox Media Group
