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NFL

Gronk 'pretty certain' he'll return, sources say

As New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski weighs his future, sources close to him say he has recently expressed that he is more likely to continue his football career than retire at 28 years old.

Gronkowski still hasn’t made a decision, but despite serious considerations since the end of the season of retiring because of physical and mental fatigue, sources say he is “pretty certain” he’ll come back as long as Tom Brady remains with the team.

However, this dose of good news for Patriots fans comes with some dilution: Lingering frustrations remain between Gronkowski and head coach Bill Belichick, along with others in the Patriots organization, according to sources close to each side. Whether those frustrations on either side will impact Gronkowski’s return to the team remains the final piece to this unfinished puzzle.

For Gronkowski, the physical anguish of the 2017 season, which led him late in the regular season to tell people that he was likely to retire, was paired with some mental fatigue from the high-strung culture within the Patriots organization, sources said. Nothing has occurred since the end of the season to convince him that is going to change — and Gronkowski knows he’ll need to be ready for a similar toll on his mind and body if he returns in 2018.

Although Rob Gronkowski is “pretty certain” he’ll be back with the Patriots as long as Tom Brady stays, lingering frustrations remain between Gronkowski and coach Bill Belichick, along with others in the organization, according to sources. AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

For Belichick, since the season’s end, sources say he has expressed frustration with those close to him about Gronkowski, specifically questioning whether he remains “all-in,” a critical aspect of Belichick’s blueprint for success.

Examples of Belichick’s frustrations are as nuanced as his discontent with Gronkowski’s message in a recent Instagram post regarding former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola, who left New England to sign a contract with the Miami Dolphins. Beneath a video of him hugging Amendola that Gronkowski posted on March 14, he wrote, in part, “Be FREE, Be HAPPY (sic).”

Should the offseason continue to create a sense within Gronkowski that he is fully committed to football, many close to Gronkowski and Belichick say they believe the friction between the two will ease. Although the discord should not be discounted, as one source explained, it should not be viewed as irreconcilable.

For now, the situation surrounding Gronkowski continues to percolate behind the scenes while all sides remain generally vague in public forums. With the NFL draft still more than three weeks away, there is time for the situation to rectify itself.

Should the silence linger deeper into April, however, all possibilities remain on the table.

NFL

Horse named for Gronk to run Kentucky Derby

A horse named after New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is set to race at the Kentucky Derby.

The thoroughbred, aptly named Gronkowski, won the Burradon Stakes in England on Friday, qualifying the Kentucky-bred colt for the venerable May 5 race at Churchill Downs.

For the first time, the race is allotting one spot in the 20-horse field to a European-based horse. Trained by Jeremy Noseda and ridden by Jamie Spencer, Gronkowski moved ahead of Mendelssohn on the European Derby leaderboard.

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“We’ve had this dream, and now the dream is alive,” Noseda told At The Races after the horse’s victory.

Gronkowski (the football player) has attended The Run for the Roses in the past, taking in the sites and sounds of Millionaires Row alongside teammate Tom Brady and others.

Kerri Radcliffe of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, which owns the horse, said his height — the same as the Patriots star (6-foot-5) — and size of the horse made it an appropriate name.

“I love the New England Patriots, and as Rob Gronkowski is 6-5 and about the same wide, I thought it would be an appropriate name for the horse, as he’s built much the same,” Radcliffe told the Racing Post last month.

Gronkowski (the horse) has finished first in his last four races, with two victories coming in March.

“It sounds strange, but I haven’t yet seen on the racetrack what I believe this horse is capable of. I’m sure there’s more to come,” Noseda said.

Mendelssohn will try to qualify for the Kentucky Derby through the main Derby leaderboard with a victory Saturday in the UAE Derby. Another spot in the Kentucky Derby field is being allotted to a Japan-based colt.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NFL

UCF's Griffin to go to draft: 'Nation behind me'

ORLANDO, Fla. — Not even three months ago, Shaquem Griffin, the University of Central Florida linebacker with one hand, was practically begging for an invite to the NFL scouting combine.

Now he’s been invited to the NFL draft later this month, and said he will be attending.

“I was a guy who was under the radar who they didn’t believe in at first but I feel like they’re starting to believe now,” Griffin said after his pro day Thursday. “I have the entire nation behind me now.”

At the combine, Griffin catapulted himself from a mere feel-good story into a national sensation and a player teams covet. He used a prosthetic hand to help put up 20 reps in the bench press and then clocked a time of 4.38 seconds in the 40 — the fastest of any linebacker in the history of the combine.

When: April 26-28
Where: Arlington, Texas
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Wearing custom cleats that read “Against All Odds” and “Trust the Process” at Thursday’s pro day, Griffin put up a 37.5-inch vertical jump, which would have been sixth overall at the combine among linebackers, and performed the three-cone drill. When it came to catching the ball in defensive backs drills, he did have some drops, but the idea was to show his versatility since he doesn’t have a clearly defined position at the next level.

“I think I jumped pretty high today, so they say. I feel pretty good about that,” Griffin said. “I wasn’t worried about [the drops]. As long as I was getting out of my breaks good and showing good hips — shoot, it’ll give them a reason to sit down and think, ‘Well this guy can play everything.'”

From the feedback he’s received so far, a lot of teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, see him as a weakside linebacker because he can have his nose to the ball and still cover. A total of 31 NFL teams — all but the San Francisco 49ers — were in attendance Thursday.

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen led Griffin in defensive backs drills, while assistant general manager Jeff Ireland looked on. Griffin recently met with the Saints and Tennessee Titans, meetings that included X’s and O’s work on the dry-erase board.

Regardless of when his name gets called or where he ends up, it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream for Griffin, who had always been overshadowed by his brother, Shaquill, now a cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.

“I’ll be very emotional,” Griffin said. ‘I’ll cry a lot. My mom will cry even more, so there’s gonna be a lot of crying going on.”

After his workout, Griffin met up with teenagers Annika Emmert and Wyatt Falardeau, who both suffered from amniotic band syndrome. Like Griffin, they both had portions of their arms amputated and now have bionic arms.

Griffin asked them if they wanted to go out for ice cream, doughnuts and strawberry sodas.

“His motto is ‘Against All Odds.’ Everything he does is an inspiration to anyone like me,” said Emmert, 13, who dreams of becoming a pediatric oncologist and is an accomplished soccer player. “It’s just amazing what he’s done, what he can do — I’ve always always wanted to do something like that, especially in the future.”

The 15-year-old Falardeau, who also has autism and plans to write a book, has been equally moved by Griffin’s success.

“He could teach all of us that even though we are born different, that we can overcome and achieve bigger challenges like football,” Falardeau said. “He has not given up at all. He never quits. … I’m not kidding you — I’m motivated every single day by Shaquem.”

NFL

NFL road show to explain helmet contact rule
3:26 PM ET

  • Kevin SeifertNFL Nation

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    • ESPN.com national NFL writer
    • ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013
    • Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008

ORLANDO, Fla. — NFL executives will fan out to all 32 teams during the next three months to explain an unexpected new rule that will at least penalize — and potentially eject — players who lower their helmets to initiate contact with an opponent.

Speaking Wednesday at the conclusion of an eventful owners meetings, commissioner Roger Goodell said the meetings would be “all hands on deck” to convey the gravity of efforts to reduce brain, neck and spinal injuries.

“Our focus is on how to take the head out of the game,” Goodell said, “and make sure we’re using the helmet as protection, and [that] it’s not being used as a weapon. And I think we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress on that this week.”

The rule is part of the league’s answer to a “call to action” from chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills, a response to a season that included 291 concussions — the most on record — and a serious spinal injury to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier. In addition, the NFL’s competition committee is preparing a stark mandate for coaches: Kickoffs will be eliminated in the near future if concussion rates don’t decrease dramatically.

Players have reacted with confusion and dismay to initial reports of the helmet rule change, which owners mandated Tuesday after the competition committee first planned to make it a simpler point of emphasis. Goodell said he hopes players will have different opinions once they are taught the rule.

“You’re jumping ahead to the players that have not had the opportunity to hear the discussion that we’ve had,” Goodell said. “So you’re reacting to players who have not yet heard that dialogue or heard the basis of why we came to where we came. And I understand that, but that’s why I mentioned early on that our intent is to make sure we go in, we go to each team, and we have tape and all of the analysis and work that was done in great coordination with our various teams to be able to communicate that to them. I’d give them an opportunity first to understand what the play is before we make a lot of adjustments about the ramifications.”

In fact, enforcement of the rule is still under development. Over the next two months, the NFL’s competition committee will work to determine how to administrate ejections — considered a necessary hammer to enforce the rule — and whether they will be subject to replay. The league hopes to finalize the wording during its May 21-23 meetings in Atlanta.

But Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy, a member of the competition committee, downplayed concerns about the frequency of ejections and perhaps even the penalty itself. He waved off examples such as quarterback sneaks, where a quarterback technically lowers his head and initiates contact.

“We watched a lot of film this year,” Murphy said. “I would say there were probably five hits where you’d say, ‘These are ones where we would want ejections.’ Now, whether there will be more penalties than that? Probably. But the focus, I think, should be on are you using the helmet as a weapon.”

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, another member of the competition committee, said the rule was a “necessary step” and also stopped short of suggesting it represented a transformational moment for the game.

“I think we’ll see it have a great effect on one element of the helmet and how we want the game to be played,” Payton said. “I think you still see the physicality. This is the one posture that we’re removing.”

In other news as the meetings wrapped up:

• Goodell said there was “some” discussion about the league’s national anthem policy during the meetings. Owners arrived in Orlando starkly divided on whether the current policy — which says players “should” stand but does not require it — should be changed. “That’s something that the ownership and I will continue to discuss and focus on as it is needed,” Goodell said.

• Senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron said no NFL rules were changed prior to Super Bowl LII, in which he reviewed but declined to overturn a touchdown reception by Philadelphia Eagles running back Corey Clement. “In order for us to overturn a call,” Riveron said, “we have to see clearly indisputable evidence. There was some movement, but we did not see loss of control. We didn’t see indisputable evidence that he did not have possession of the football.”

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