Rob Gronkowski Continues To Skirt Patriots Convention With Recent Scooter Tour

The New England Patriots may have lost their stud tight end, Rob Gronkowski, for the season with an ACL/MCL injury that requires surgery, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be living in a Gronkless world. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Aside from wide receiver Randy Moss, Gronkowski may be the only player in the Bill Belichick era who has openly challenged the ‘seen and not heard’ policy seemingly favored by the franchise. And we all know how well that worked out for Moss.

That being said, Gronkowski doesn’t seem to have anything on his agenda except for living his life and having fun. He spends his bye weeks with porn stars and his offseasons in the sun with a giant plastic cup permanently attached to his hand.

And for anyone who thinks Gronk should be sitting at home year round studying film, he’s got a pretty simple message for you:

This isn’t a guy who’s willing to disappear for the better part of a year while rehabbing from an injury; he enjoys being seen too much for that. In the last week Gronk has taken his scooter for a spin in public twice, and each time it somehow morphed into a headline making event.

First he was spotted grocery shopping at a Boston area Whole Foods, picking up the assorted Gronk fuel necessary to keep the big man running. He stopped for a quick photo-op with a couple of young fans—or maybe just next to them—which naturally was posted to Instagram.

Never has a simple trip to the grocery store been met with such a hullabaloo.

Two days later Gronk took his show on the road again, this time to Boston Children’s hospital to visit the kids with teammate Stevan Ridley. Although technically he was in a wheelchair while playing one of Santa’s elves, so he didn’t have to worry about driving duties.

Outside of New England, Gronkowski’s offseason antics are much ‘ado about nothing, but we all know they (think they) do things differently. Although the Pats aren’t known for handing out big budget contracts, they rewarded Gronk with a six-year, $53 million extension in June 2012.

After this season he’ll have played in just 18 of 32 regular season games since that deal was done. Gronk hasn’t played in a playoff game since the 2011 season and was a complete non-factor in the Patriots loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Which is why, as good as Gronkowski is when he’s on the field, you have to wonder what his status with the team will be after another winter…spring…and summer of Gronk. His ‘sorry not sorry’ attitude already doesn’t jibe with “the Patriot way.”

It’s hard to imagine the Pats are going to change, given the success they’ve enjoyed under Belichick. And it certainly doesn’t seem like Gronk plans on settling down anytime soon either. Eventually something, or someone, will have to give.