Gronkowski Spikes His Way Into Patriots Hall of Fame With Brady Watching From the Stage

Rob Gronkowski's football career ended where much of it was built. On Saturday the New England Patriots inducted the tight end into their Hall of Fame at Patriot Place Plaza outside Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady sat beside him on stage in a matching red jacket, and Gronkowski finished the ceremony by spiking a football into the stage, ESPN's Mike Reiss reported.

The fans voted Gronkowski in, and he received the red jacket that goes to every Patriots Hall of Famer. Brady was the first to reach him and hug him after the spike. The two were together for the ceremony because Brady is in town to call Sunday's Packers-Patriots game for Fox. The team's full ceremony video on Patriots.com also features Jonathan Kraft and former teammate Julian Edelman.

Gronkowski played nine seasons in New England, from 2010 through 2018. According to ESPN, he was part of nine AFC East title teams, eight AFC Championship Game trips and four Super Bowl appearances. His regular-season totals with the Patriots were 521 catches, 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns. He added 81 catches, 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns in the playoffs. He also played two seasons in Tampa Bay before retiring. Western New York is where he grew up, but he lives in Massachusetts full time now, and he told the crowd the region will always be home. Gronkowski didn't take himself too seriously at the podium, but he was clear about how he sees the dynasty years. "Nothing and no one is ever matching what we did over the run we had," he said, per ESPN.

The ceremony has no effect on the current roster. It does give a 5-3 team a full stadium of nostalgia and a famous voice in the broadcast booth heading into its Week 9 home game.

What it means for Sunday against Green Bay

The Patriots host the Packers on Sunday on Fox at 4:25 p.m. ET. They come in off a 24-19 win at Miami, which followed a 30-24 loss in Chicago. Home games have gone well for New England this season. The Patriots are 3-0 in Foxborough, with wins over Pittsburgh (20-3), Las Vegas (45-17) and the Jets (26-19). They are 2-3 on the road, where they lost 35-6 in Jacksonville and 13-10 in Seattle. Through eight games they have scored 184 points and allowed 162, about 23 points for and 20 against per game.

On this site's Packers-Patriots board, which covers 12 venues, New England is favored. Novig has the Patriots at -163 on the moneyline and Green Bay at +160. On the spread, Novig lists New England -3.5 at +111. The best Patriots spread price anywhere is FanDuel's -3 at -110, which gives the home side half a point more room. Novig sets the total at 44.5, with the over at -102 and the under at -100. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9% to 5.1% on the spread and from 3.1% to 5.3% on the moneyline, so the venues are fairly close on this game.

Next week New England plays at Detroit, and the early board for that game has it close to even. Novig lists the Patriots moneyline at -100 and the Lions at -113.