Rob Gronkowski recalls breaking ex-Lions DE Vanden Bosch’s neck on Thanksgiving 2010: “He told me he was gonna kill me”

New England Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski has many many stories to tell of his unique NFL career. The popular former tight end recently opened up on a crazy incident that happened during the Patriots' Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions in 2010.

The 8-2 Patriots faced the 2-8 Lions on the road for the Lions' Thanksgiving game tradition. In preparation for their game, Bill O'Brien kept hyping up Lions defender Kyle Vanden Bosch, who was one of the most-feared defensive ends in the NFL at the time. O'Brien told Gronk that Vanden Bosh was going to kill him during the game.

It couldn't have been any less true. Gronkowski opened up on "Games With Names" with former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and recalled what happened:

Edelman: “His rookie year, 2010, we played Thanksgiving vs Detroit. The whole week Billy O’Brien was hyping up Vanden Bosch like ‘Vanden Bosch is gonna break you. Vanden Bosch is gonna kill you, Gronk.’”

Gronk: “Because Vanden Bosch was the highest-paid fricking DE in the league. He was a manchild.

"I broke his neck. He told me he was gonna kill me and all this other stuff during the game and all this garbage. I told him I was gonna knock him out when the game ends and I knocked him out when the game ended.”

The Patriots ended up winning the game in dominating fashion. They earned a 45-24 victory, improving to 9-1 behind Tom Brady's four-touchdown passes in the second half.

Rob Gronkowski thinks Bill Belichick will return to the NFL next year after taking deserved time off

Rob Gronkowski during Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk - UCLA v Boise State

While his former coach, Bill Belichick is without a coaching job for next season, Rob Gronkowski predicts he will take the 2024 season off. Gronkowski thinks Belichick will return to coaching in 2025 with vengeance.

"I think it's great he's going to take a year off. He needs it. he deserves it. And I think he's going to come back next year with some vengeance!"

Belichick and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to part ways following the 2023-2024 season. The head coaching carousel wrapped up pretty quickly as there were a total of eight different head coaching changes this off-season, but Belichick was left without a suitor.