After Sunday night’s loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, several members of the team attended a post-game party. Thereafter, photos and videos emerged of a shirtless Rob Gronkowski dancing vigorously, despite a high ankle sprain.
Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison didn’t like it.
“I guarantee you this, if Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Larry Izzo, Richard Seymour or myself had been at that party, [Gronkowski] probably would have got his head rung,” Harrison told ESPN 1000 in Chicago. “There’s no reason for that to happen.”
Rodney added that Gronkowski “disrespected himself” with his behavior.
“When we lost the Super Bowl, any of my Super Bowl losses, I was so devastated the last thing I ever wanted to do was party, let alone dance or take off your shirt,” Harrison said. “It’s just immaturity. It’s not right. He made a mistake and I’m sure he feels absolutely stupid about it at this point. There’s a time and place for everything.”
Harrison also said he was “surprised” that veteran left tackle Matt Light also partied with his shirt off.
Everyone deals with defeat differently, and no one should expect the players from the losing team to sit on the floor and repeatedly turn the lamp on and off. But if there’s a line, Gronkowski and Light may have crossed it. And that could make for some awkward moments when the guys who were too distraught to party like it’s SB39 get together with the guys who decided to audition for the Chippendales.