Rob Gronkowski reveals special message Tom Brady recently sent him

Rob Gronkowski reveals special message Tom Brady recently sent him originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski had a special connection, one that New England Patriots fans were fortunate enough to witness for nine seasons.

These two future Hall of Famers won three Super Bowl titles for the Patriots, then teamed up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win a fourth.

Brady and Gronkowski were especially productive when it mattered most in the NFL playoffs. Brady holds many postseason QB records, while Gronkowski consistently dominated opposing defenses.

Gronkowski's 15 playoff touchdown receptions are the third-most all time. Five of them came in Super Bowls, and only Jerry Rice (eight) has more in those games.

Gronkowski recently was a guest on the Barstool Sports podcast Pardon My Take, and the hosts asked him about Brady. Gronk revealed that the last time he spoke to his former quarterback was earlier this week. Brady texted Gronkowski some playoff touchdown highlights, along with the message, "Bro, no one's done it like us."

"The last time I talked to him was actually yesterday, he sent me a clip of our playoff touchdowns," Gronkowski told PMT. "And he wrote to me, 'Bro, no one's done it like us." I was like, bro, those are some badass clips. ... I haven't really realized we were freakin' badass. We were, if not -- the best duo to do it in the game. Watching the highlights now, there isn't anyone doing what we did back in the day. There's no doubt about it. We played physical football, we played smart football like no one else does. We grinded our way out of situations whenever we needed to."

Watch the entire clip in the post below:

Gronkowski retired after the 2021 season. Brady left the sport for the second and final time following the 2022 campaign.

Their records might be broken at some point, but it's hard to imagine another duo playing at such an elite level in the most important games for over a decade. The production and consistency from those two players was simply remarkable.