Rob Gronkowski Offers Honest Take On Whether Travis Kelce Is the Best TE Ever
After an injury held him out of Week 1 and it took him a while to get back into form, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce delivered a vintage performance in Week 6 against the Denver Broncos. His nine receptions for 124 yards served as a reminder that the future Hall of Fame pass-catcher is still the best in the NFL at his position, even as he battles a sprained ankle.
With Kelce's continued dominance past his 34th birthday, many are still discussing where he ranks among all tight ends to ever play football. Kelce still (presumably) has multiple seasons left in his storied career, which gives him time to add to what's already an impressive resume. One burning question will continue to pop up for years to come: is he the greatest of all time?
Plenty of prominent folks have chimed in on the tight end GOAT debate, but the most recent was someone who played the position at a high level for years. Appearing on the Ryen Russillo Podcast, Russillo posed the question to Rob Gronkowski. In a clip posted to the show's TikTok page, the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers standout said Kelce's undoubtedly the best ever when it comes to catching the football:
"I would say in a different aspect. I mean, I believe that Travis Kelce is the best, like, receiving tight end. If you're talking about a tight end, he's the best tight end in terms of catching the ball. There's no doubt about it, you can't even argue. I mean, he's had seven 1,000-yard seasons in a row. He's a great red zone target as well and when he's not out on the field, they're not the same team."
With that in mind, he also left an overall ranking up for grabs while continuing to praise what Kelce has done and continues to do:
"I would say, look, we were talking about just the way I played the game — old school style — it's an argument. It's an argument that I don't want to make the final decision on. It's an argument on, also, what type of offense you're in, what type of style you have in the game, how they're featuring you, what type of system you're in, what players are around you as well. He's just had a great career. He's taking it to the top, and he just keeps taking it to another level each year. And he's in his thirties, too, he's the same age as me which is incredible, and he's still going at that speed. So I'll leave it up to you guys to debate the top tight end out there."
It's hard to evaluate players' all-time standings while they're still playing, but that's the air Kelce has put himself in since entering the league back in 2013. On the career receiving list for tight ends, he currently ranks first in yards per game, fourth in total receiving yards and sixth in touchdowns. His aforementioned streak of consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaigns is an NFL record, and one that has a serious chance of being extended this season as well. By the time it's all said and done, the list of people who believe he's the greatest tight end ever will surely grow.
Gronkowski absolutely deserves consideration given his 92 career touchdowns and seemingly endless collection of highlight plays, although he didn't have the consistent longevity of someone like Kelce. This debate will rage on for plenty of seasons into the future, as there's no sure-fire answer right now. Gronkowski was quite complimentary of Kelce's career while also leaving the door open for more dialogue elsewhere, which was probably the best route to take.
