With the Buccaneers having a victory over the Panthers in hand in the fourth quarter on Sunday, quarterback Tom Brady appeared to disregard coach Bruce Arians’ desire for him to exit the game, in order to help Rob Gronkowski get enough catches to reach a contract incentive.
Gronkowski’s contract called for a $500,000 bonus if he caught 55 passes this season. He was at 54 catches late in the fourth quarter when Brady appeared to tell Blaine Gabbert to stay on the sideline when Gabbert was under the impression that he was going in. Tony Romo, calling the game on CBS, said that Brady was making it clear to Arians that he was staying in the game.
“You’re not taking me out. Let’s see who has more power, Brady or Arians,” Romo said.
Sure enough, Brady and Gronkowski both went back on the field for long enough to Brady to complete one more pass to Gronk. Gronkowski said after the game that he appreciated it, while joking that he wouldn’t be sharing any of that bonus money with Brady.
“It was really nice to get it,” Gronkowski said. “Hitting incentives is cool. The Buccaneers are a great organization, putting me in a position where I can hit those incentives, which is awesome. I love playing here. I love playing for this organization. It’s cool to hit those. I’m going to have to bring out all the tight ends to dinner. A couple of the quarterbacks -- I don’t bring Tom out, I’ll bring the backups out to dinner.”
Brady did the same thing last year for Antonio Brown, a favor Brady may now be second-guessing after Brown went scorched-earth on Brady, his longtime trainer Alex Guerrero, and the Buccaneers last week. But Brady and Gronkowski have a much longer and closer relationship than Brady and Brown, and Gronkowski will appreciate Brady’s gesture, even if Gronk isn’t buying Brady dinner.
