New England Patriots - NESN.com
Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman had some fun at the expense of former teammate and current FOX colleague Tom Brady ahead of a Week 1 matchup between the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders.
Brady owns a minority stake in the Raiders, so the seven-time Super Bowl champion probably won’t root for his old team on Sunday. Since Gronkowski and Edelman don’t have the same dilemma, the Patriots icons sided with New England during FOX’s pre-game show.
“I got the New England Patriots beating down Tom Brady’s team, the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gronkowski declared.
Gronkowski doesn’t expect Brady to be too torn over his allegiances.
“That’s just the nature of Tom. He’s a competitor,” Gronkowski said. “But that’s OK, because he will always be cheering for the Patriots if he didn’t own part of the Raiders.”
The duo noted the oddity of Brady owning a team playing on the road at a stadium that unveiled a statue of him last month. Gronkowski and Edelman joked about covering up the statue for the day, and the former tight end offered some other creative solutions.
“Throw a blanket over it?” Gronk asked. “Maybe back up a semi truck, kick the statue into it and just roll it off for the night, then bring it back?”
Another one of their former teammates, Mike Vrabel, will coach the Patriots for the first time on Sunday. Edelman used the connection for one more jab at Brady.
“Mike Vrabel used to get under Tom’s skin the most,” Edelman recalled. “He’s playing against the Brady Raiders.”
Brady won’t be conflicted in the broadcast booth. He’ll instead work an NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders for FOX.
Sunday’s Week 1 game between the Patriots and Raiders kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
