Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski caught six passes for 81 yards and a touchdown on Saturday night, and he’s now within striking distance of the NFL’s all-time postseason receiving records for a tight end.
Gronk now has 835 postseason receiving yards in his career, moving him ahead of Shannon Sharpe into second place, behind only Dallas Clark. In the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Gronkowski needs just 13 yards to pass Clark for the most postseason receiving yards for any tight end in NFL history.
With 58 career postseason catches, Gronkowski is just six behind Clark’s all-time record. And with 10 postseason receiving touchdowns, Gronkowski already has the most for a tight end in NFL history and tied for third-most among all players, behind only Jerry Rice’s 22 and John Stallworth’s 12.
Asked about those records after the game, Gronkowski changed the subject.
“What’s most important is getting that win and that’s what we did,” Gronkowski said, adding that having a record is “great to hear and everything but that’s not really the main goal. Maybe down the road you can look back and look at that stuff but as of right now what our main goal is just keep on grinding, get the win and that’s what we did tonight.”
Thats what the Patriots have done throughout Gronkowski’s career, and those performances are why Gronkowski, at age 28, is already among the great tight ends in NFL history.