Gronk: I needed Belichick's 'tight-knit style' to become a great player

Last week, Rob Gronkowski found out that he had been voted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and will become the 38th inductee in franchise history.

Gronk joined The Greg Hill Show Tuesday morning to reflect on the honor and his career in New England. Listen to the full interview above.

Asked about the influence Tom Brady and Bill Belichick had on his career, Gronk had high praise for both. His chemistry with Brady is obviously legendary; the two connected for 105 touchdowns (90 in New England, 15 in Tampa Bay), the second-most ever by any quarterback-receiver duo behind only Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (114).

But Gronk also credited Belichick for taking a chance on him in the first place, and for pushing him in all the right ways to become a better player.

"I gotta give both of them credit," Gronk said. "Obviously Coach Belichick taking a chance on me and drafting me in the second round. And not just drafting me – he traded up for me. The Baltimore Ravens were about to scoop me at pick 43, and he knew that as well. He traded up with Oakland to get me, which was a special feeling. I was pissed I didn't go in the first round of the draft. And then to see the Patriots trade up for me, I was like, 'Oh, I got traded up for. That's what's up.' At that age, when I was 20 years old, I thought it was one of the coolest things.

"But I gotta attribute my success, a lot of it – I definitely had the will to want to be great, but you also gotta have a great supporting cast around you. And with Coach Belichick, just the way that he ran the program, I needed that tight-knit style with Coach Belichick. Especially such an immature human being I was at the age of 20, 21, once I went to the New England Patriots. I mean, he sharpened me right up. He put me in my place when I needed to be.

"And same with Tom Brady. They both helped make me the special player that I became out on the football field, along with so many other teammates and my position coaches as well. They pushed me, especially Bill, especially Tom, they pushed me to be great every single day. Without them, without their support, I definitely wouldn't have had the career that I had."

Gronk actually just had a chance to catch up with Belichick this past weekend at the Kentucky Derby, and he said that actually turned out to be a great moment for the two of them that kind of brought things full-circle.

"It was a special moment, actually. It really was," Gronk said. "Because I really haven't caught up with Bill since I've been retired from the game of football, since he left and moved on to coach the college ranks. We saw each other at the [Tom Brady] roast, but that's a spectacle with so many people around.

"So, we had a great one-on-one conversation, man. I mean, it was just so good to catch back up with Coach Belichick. It was always a players-coach relationship, and now that we're both years removed from that players-coach relationship, it was the first time that we really hit it off in a different way than we've seen each other throughout our life. … So, it was just cool reminiscing about our great times, and it was awesome to catch up with him."