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This time last year, the New England Patriots found themselves in the middle of a controversy.
The team had fired Jerod Mayo, practically handpicked by Bill Belichick to replace him, after just one season, albeit a 4-13 campaign.
Former Patriots called out the team for not giving Mayo a fair chance, but after replacing Mayo with Mike Vrabel, all is forgiven.
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Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots reacts against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first quarter at Gillette Stadium on November 3, 2013 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
In Vrabel’s first season in New England, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, which they played in 10 times under Belichick.
“Winning cures everything. That’s been a known fact since I’ve been in the NFL and it’s something I’ve learned tremendously,” Rob Gronkowski, who called Mayo’s firing an “ugly situation,” said in an interview with Pakinomist Digital. “It cures the players’ problems off the field, it really does. Not all of it, but a lot of things. It can cure a dismantled organization — all of a sudden you start winning and you’re a well-rounded program. Winning literally cures everything, and that’s why that’s the whole goal.”
There is no doubt that Gronkowski, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, is convinced that the mess in New England has been cleaned up. While he teamed up with Bounty, who has kept him clean of naughty buffalo wings over the past few Super Bowl weeks, he credited Bounty with cleaning up the mess in Foxborough as well.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel walks on the field before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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“In the offseason, Bounty came in and cleaned up the mess. They cleaned up the guard, they cleaned up the guys that shouldn’t be on the team, they cleaned house, brought in a bunch of free agents. Let’s contribute all season to Bounty,” Gronkowski joked.
“You can’t have football without wings and you can’t have wings without Bounty, so it sticks with me everywhere,” he added. “I’m a wing guy. I’m from Buffalo, my buffalo wings will be with me forever, and I’m a football guy. Eleven years in the NFL and now I’m an analyst for FOX, so football has been with me. And then Bounty paper towels just clean up my mess while I’m watching the game, and I’ve always been cleaned up on my field, and I’ve always been cleaned up. That’s why I’ve always stayed out of trouble.”
Gronkowski also ripped the Tennessee Titans for letting Vrabel go.
“They’ve been a debacle since Mike Vrabel left. It was one of the worst moves they’ve ever made in program history. I don’t see why they let him go. The guy did a great job there, he didn’t have a ton of guys to go out there and play, and they still won football games like they’re winning football games in New England history,” he said.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel watches during the first half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vrabel coached the Titans from 2018 to 2023, even losing to Gronkowski and the Pats in an AFC title game.
