Is Rob Gronkowski the Patriots' Mickey Mantle?

When I heard that Rob Gronkowski needed yet another surgery, this time for his back, I asked myself "Is Gronkowski going to be the Mickey Mantle of the Patriots? A guy who partied a lot then got injured a lot?" The Gronkowski narrative is starting to sound very similar. I can already hear the amateur M.D.s out there offering their unsolicited prognoses and medical advice. "If Grawnk pahtied less, if he was more sobah, we'd have two more Supahbowl rings."

The Patriots were able to draft Gronkowski because of his injuries. He fell to the 2nd round because he missed the 2009 season with a back injury. So maybe he is just injury prone. As amazingly as he's played, he's continued to get injured. And more alarmingly, get re-injured very easily. It seems to be a mixed bag with Gronkowski. Outstanding production when healthy, and long periods of absence due to injury.

Meanwhile, the internet feeds us pictures of Gronk partying with college coeds, holding a cocktail, with that big dumb grin on his face. We see videos of him dancing on broken bones. We see him hanging out with "adult actresses." We see these things as we read stories about him needing multiple surgeries, and people out there put 2 and 2 together and get 7. Even those of us who don't jump to such conclusions can't help but wonder that maybe if Gronk's social life weren't so amazingly awesome, his football life would be less riddled with injury.

Maybe there's something to that. I don't know. I'm no doctor. I also know that pictures and videos from social media can create a false impression. If all we see of Gronk is partying, then we think he parties all the time. We see him with two college girls, holding a drink, and we think he must be getting hammered and then hammering the girls. But it's just a picture.

And you know what, folks, most of these athletes live life like Gronk does. They're young, in shape, rich, and famous. Almost every girl is available to them. At all times. Most athletes Gronk's age have a very similar lifestyle.

One difference between Gronk and other athletes is he doesn't insulate himself. It seems like he'll party with anyone, take a picture with anyone. He doesn't just surround himself with a posse and sit in the VIP all night. He does that sometimes, but most of the pictures we see of him partying are out with the public. And he's the center of attention. And he loves it. I don't think he's capable of saying "no" if someone wants to take a picture with him.

Athletes partying is nothing new. Read stories about the Bruins running around town in the 70s. Imagine if there had been Instagram or Twitter when Bobby Orr and his teammates, dressed as doctors, broke into a hospital and carried an injured Phil Esposito (and his bed) to a nearby bar and drank all night. I have not seen any pictures or videos of Gronkowski that are as insane as that story.

And do you think Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Johnny Pesky ("The Teammates") spent all their free time fishing and discussing the science of hitting?

If there had been TwitPic when Babe Ruth was downing hot dogs by the dozen, drinking gallons of beer, and neglecting his wife and children, we might not adore him so much 90 years later. I can't even imagine what Ty Cobb would tweet about. #Racist. Athletes haven't changed much. Social media has simply exposed more people to what some athletes do off the field.

Then there's Mickey Mantle, who was plagued with injury his entire career. Mickey might have been healthier if he hadn't drank so much. That same narrative is starting to be applied to Gronkowski.

And maybe the same is true for Gronk. Maybe if he lived the Tebow life he wouldn't get hurt so easily.

I think that's an overly simplistic theory, though, that is based on speculation and not fact. It's not a complete argument.

Gronk parties
Gronk gets hurt
Therefore, if Gronk didn't party, he wouldn't get hurt

I think he's just prone to injuries and always has been. Some athletes are. He has a big awkward frame and he takes some serious hits all season long. There are athletes that live harder than he does and remain healthy. There are athletes that live calmer than he does and get injured. Does Danny Amendola have a drinking problem because he's regularly hurt? Was Wes Welker a choir boy because he rarely missed games and recovered quickly?

Gronk's injuries are a problem, both for him and for the Patriots. I kind of want him to be benched until Week 10. Save him for the postseason, with a few weeks beforehand to get into the groove of the game. That's kind of silly, though. And he might get injured anyway. And he would have a longer off-season to drink more and have more sex. Which, according to the amateur M.D.s of New England, would probably give him leprosy.

Bill Belichick Causes Freak Injury

Rob Gronkowski got hurt and I'm angry! And it's Bill Belichick's fault!

Why was Gronk in there? It was a meaningless PAT in a meaningless part of the game and it resulted in a very meaningful injury. Belichick should have taken him out. He should have gone up to him before the PAT, said "Rob, you're more important than your teammates, stay on the sidelines where it's safe."

I know PATs usually aren't dangerous, but why take any risk at all? Gronk is an important part of the team, more important than his teammates, and the best thing for the team was for Belichick to point out to the team that Gronkowski is separate from and above teammates.

I know Belichick has won some Super Bowls here, and he drafted guys like Tom Brady, and Gronkowski, and so on and so forth. He's a good coach. But I'm getting tired of all the "In Bill We Trust" people who blindly support everything he does. I'm allowed to question and even criticize him. I'm tired of me, the sports media, and thousands of fans being silenced. All we have to voice our opinions are newspapers, blogs, sports radio, Twitter, and Facebook. Somehow, we will be heard!

Look, I obviously don't want Belichick to be fired. I just want him to change what he does and how he does it. It clearly doesn't work, because if it did, Gronkowski wouldn't be injured right now.

What Belichick should have done, for the good of the team, is to tell an individual player that he was more important than his teammates. That he was precious, and must be preserved and protected. Then after the game, give a speech to the team about how important Rob Gronkowski's health is, and how dangerous PATs are.

Nothing builds a team mentality better than putting individual players on a pedestal, and dividing the team into two groups: important stars, and expendable laborers. That, along with an intense fear of injury, are how winning teams are built.

End Sarcasm.