New England Patriots
“Is it going to be the start of the third dynasty?”
Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski took in the NFC championship game between the Seahawks and Rams on Sunday as part of FOX’s broadcasting crew.
But the Patriots legends took the time to salute their former team after New England punched its ticket to Super Bowl LX earlier that day.
Gronkowski did little to mask his enthusiasm on Sunday after the Patriots outlasted the Broncos in a snowy defensive slugfest at Empower Field at Mile High, 10-7.
“That was one of the best turnarounds in sports from where the Patriots were last year then going out and getting Mike Vrabel as their head coach and having this turnaround and going to the Super Bowl,” Gronkowski said on Fox’s broadcast ahead of the NFC title game. “Pats Nation: we’re going back to the Super Bowl, baby. That’s what I’m talking about.”
New England — which posted back-to-back four-win seasons in 2023 and 2024 — earned a spot back in the Super Bowl after going 14-3 in the regular season and winning three playoff bouts against the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos.
Several factors helped New England orchestrate a 10-win turnaround from last season, including Drake Maye’s emergence as an MVP candidate, a strong draft, and a home-run free-agent class.
But Gronkowski was quick to credit team owner Robert Kraft for making the call to move on from Jerod Mayo after just one year as head coach — replacing him with former Patriots standout Mike Vrabel.
“I can say this: that gold jacket is 100% waiting for [Robert Kraft] to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — there is no doubt about that,” Gronkowski added. “One of the best owners in all of sports. I mean, he’s going back to the Super Bowl.”
During the closing minutes of the NFC title game, Brady — serving as the color commentator for Fox’s broadcast alongside play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt — also saluted the Patriots for their impressive turnaround in the span of a single season.
“Just so happy for Mike Vrabel, former teammate of mine,” Brady said. “Went to New England, no one was quite sure how they’d do — back-to-back 4-13 seasons. And they turn it into a road AFC victory in Denver. I know how hard that is. Josh McDaniels has done an incredible job as [offensive] coordinator, Drake Maye, that defense.
“This is going to be a hell of a Super Bowl matchup. … I’m going to be there in San Francisco watching in my hometown. … Such an exciting, exciting achievement for all the teams that validate a lot of the things that they tried to embody when you win that championship game on the road, it’s just unbelievable joy and elation.”
It didn’t take long after the Seahawks set themselves up for rematch with the Patriots in Super Bowl LX for Gronkowski to draw parallels to New England’s last triumph over the Seattle.
“This is going to be a rematch. The last time Seattle was in the Super Bowl — it was versus the Patriots, and the Patriots won — and it was the start of the second dynasty,” Gronkowski said. “Is it going to be the start of the third dynasty?”
New England’s nail-biting victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX sparked a run where the Patriots won three Super Bowls in five seasons — with the Patriots falling in the AFC title game in 2015 and losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LI in February 2018.
It remains to be seen if Maye, Vrabel, and this current Patriots grouping can orchestrate a similar run.
The first order of business is to secure another Lombardi Trophy — with Super Bowl LX set for Sunday, Feb. 8, in Santa Clara.
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