Rob Gronkowski pays tribute to Bill Belichick after his Patriots exit and thanks legendary coach for ‘taking a chance on me’: ‘It was an honor to be on your team’

Rob Gronkowski paid tribute to Bill Belichick on social media Thursday, hours after his former head coach stepped down after 24 seasons at the helm of the Patriots.

Gronkowski played under Belichick in New England from 2010 to 2018, winning three Super Bowls and making five Pro Bowls.

Belichick, 71, leaves New England with a terrible 4-13 season.

But he was the longest-tenured coach in the NFL, and his 24-year stint with New England was the fifth-longest stint in charge of one team in league history.

Belichick parted ways with the Patriots on Thursday after 24 seasons as the team’s head coach

“Thank you Coach Belichick for everything you’ve done!” said Gronkowski, who was selected No. 42 overall by New England in 2010.

‘From taking a chance by drafting at the very beginning to teaching and showing the way on the pitch, I wouldn’t change a thing!’

‘Honor to be on your team and thank you for putting us players in situations where we can achieve serious success!! It’s best to do that, coach!’ Gronkowski continued.

Belichick has previously said that Gronkowski’s pre-draft interview with the Patriots was “a bad call.” Still, Belichick trusted his instincts and called him up.

‘Rob was a bit of a shot in the dark. He came on his pre-draft visit and had a bad visit. We put him in a room, came back, he was sleeping on the floor. I didn’t make a very good impression,” Belichick said.

‘There wasn’t much to do. We traded for him. And we were betting that he would pull through, and he certainly did well,” Belichick continued.

Gronkowski came out of retirement for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his only time in the NFL without Belichick as head coach.