Tom Brady's son wants to be a tight end 'like Gronk'

Tom Brady‘s 13-year-old son, Benjamin, might want to play football, but he’s not exactly following in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he idolizes one of the legendary quarterback’s former teammates, Rob Gronkowski.

In a recent edition of his Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray podcast, Brady revealed that Benjamin plans to play football this year. And he won’t be playing quarterback. Instead, the teenager will be getting in reps at the tight end position.

“My son is gonna play football this year, Benny, so I’ve been throwing the ball to him in the backyard, and he wants to be a tight end like Gronk, and he’s gonna be a little beast,” Brady said, per Sports Illustrated. “He told me this year, ‘Dad I’m playing football.’ I was like, ‘What do you wanna play?’ And he’s like, ‘tight end; I wanna be like Gronk.’”

That’s a pretty good player to revere. Gronk played alongside Brady for 11 seasons, nine with the New England Patriots and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The tight end was part of four of Brady’s seven Super Bowl victories, too.

Gronkowski ended his career as a five-time Pro Bowl selection and was four times picked to the first-team All-Pros. He piled up 9,286 receiving yards and 92 touchdowns on 621 catches.

Tom Brady prepares for return to New England

Now that he’s no longer suiting up for the Buccaneers, Brady returns to Gillette Stadium this year to be honored during the Patriots’ home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Brady talked about his return to Foxboro on the podcast, as well.

“Mr. [Robert] Kraft has been very welcoming to me,” Brady said, via Chris Mason of MassLive.com. “So I’m going to have a lot of great friends there. I’ve had so many people text me and say that they’re excited to see me come back. So it’ll be really a special reunion and I’m excited to get there. I haven’t been back much, just by the way things work out. Your life kinda takes you in different directions.”

Brady won six of his seven Super Bowl rings while in New England. He’ll go down as the greatest player ever to step foot on a field after his incredible career. It only seems appropriate that the Patriots honor their legendary player to open up the 2023 season, less than one year after he decided to permanently retire from the game.