Rob Gronkowski Spikes Ball During First Pitch Before Red Sox Patriots' Day Game

The four-time Super Bowl champion also served as the Boston Marathon's grand marshal earlier in the day

Rob Gronkowski enjoyed his time back in Boston for Patriots' Day.

The former NFL star, 34, who previously played for the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tried his luck at baseball on Monday, April 15 by throwing the honorary first pitch at Fenway Park.

Instead of trying to get the baseball to home plate, Gronk spiked the ball, just as he used to spike a football after scoring a touchdown.

Related: Rob Gronkowski Says He Won't Return to the NFL, Even If Tom Brady Asks: 'I'm Done with Football'

“An epic first pitch from Gronk,” the official MLB account tweeted alongside a video of the athlete at the pitcher’s mound for the Boston Red Sox’s pregame ceremony before the team's annual Patriots Day game.

In the 15-second clip, Gronkowski leans back, appearing to rev up enough energy to propel the ball to the catcher, only to spike it into the ground just in front of himself.

The four-time Super Bowl champion is known for spiking footballs into the ground for end zone celebrations during his days in the NFL.

As the announcer playfully yelled out in agony, the baller smiled with one fist extended into the air, seemingly taking a victory stroll. As applause was heard from the crowd at Fenway Park, Gronk and one of the Red Sox players celebrated by leaping into the air for a side bump.

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Although the retired star did not help the Red Sox see a victory over the Cleveland Guardians, he did bring a bit of joy to the city ahead of the baseball game.

Gronkowski was this year’s Boston Marathon grand marshal and rode through the route in an All-Electric 2024 Honda Prologue.

He ensured the trophy reached the finish line near Copley Square before stepping onto the mound.

“Grand marshal Robbie G in the house, baby,” he said in a selfie video that was shared on the Red Sox’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

“Just got finished doing my duties, waving to all my fans throughout the Boston Marathon course. And now I’m here at Fenway Park throwing out the first pitch. Huge shoutout to the Boston Red Sox, let’s go!”

While in Las Vegas earlier this year for the 2024 Super Bowl, Gronkowski spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about his relationship with his longtime girlfriend Camille Kostek.

During the Big Game weekend, he said he had no Vegas wedding chapel plans on his itinerary.

"Not during the Super Bowl right now. There's too much going on," he said in February. "That would have to be more of an intimate setting."

Gronkowski first met the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model in 2013 and the couple made their relationship public in 2016.

"There's a lot going on right here in Vegas," he added of the star-studded weekend. "We are just getting through this week and then we'll see what happens from there.”

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