Rob Gronkowski Says Tim Tebow Pick Stopped Him From Being Drafted by Patriots' AFC Rival

Brady to Gronk almost never was.

Gronkowski was almost never a Patriot. / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Apparently, the historic career of tight end Rob Gronkowski almost never was—in a New England Patriots uniform, anyway.

That's right, in a recent episode of his Dudes on Dudes podcast with Julian Edelman, Gronk revealed that he was almost selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft.

"The Baltimore Ravens were gonna pick me, I think it was the 25th pick that they had," he explained. "But then Denver and Josh McDaniels came scooping in and traded with the Baltimore Ravens. The Denver Broncos took Tim Tebow [and] I just got booted out of the first round."

"The Ravens had the 43rd pick now," Gronk continued. "Well then the New England Patriots got a sniff of it and they traded up one spot before the Baltimore Ravens at No. 42—where I got drafted."

Gronk was almost a Raven, but the Patriots traded up to get him pic.twitter.com/9CTa4bExkT

— DudesOnDudes (@DudesOnDudesPod) May 6, 2025

Gronkowski also revealed that if the Pats hadn’t been able to trade up for him, they had a deal in place to acquire tight end Greg Olsen from the Chicago Bears.

No slight to Olsen, who put together a great career in his own right, but I'm willing to bet quarterback Tom Brady is just fine with the way things turned out. He and Gronk connected on 105 touchdowns across their stints in both New England and Tampa Bay while winning four Super Bowls together.

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