Rob Gronkowski's spike leaves mark
— -- PHOENIX -- In the vast, vibrant world of sports celebrations, perhaps nothing fits the personality of the celebrant like a Rob Gronkowski signature spike.
It is at once exuberant, majestic, thunderous -- and frightening -- and it has happened 14 times this season in 18 games with varying degrees of aesthetic success. One thing that is never missing: effort.
"A Gronk spike is power," said fellow Patriots tight end Tim Wright. "It just exemplifies how he plays the game, the love and the passion that he puts into it. And when the ball bounces back in the air, it's no telling how high it goes.
"No ceiling for it."
The return of Gronkowski to his fabulous form is one of the leading reasons New England finds itself in its second Super Bowl since drafting him from the University of Arizona.
On Tuesday, much of Gronkowski's 60-minute discourse was connected to the school that lies a little over 100 miles from here.
"We went to Arizona's first bowl game in 10 years," Gronkowski said with typical gusto. "We beat BYU in the Holiday Bowl and my brother [Chris] scored a touchdown."
If Gronkowski scores in Super Bowl XLIX, brace yourself. Some of his spikes bounce with a hang time that rivals a shanked punt.
His teammates, queried over three days last week in Foxborough, clearly had fun describing his spike and ventured to say it might be bigger on the Richter scale than Seattle's 12th Man.
"It's like he's throwing a bomb down," said Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis. "That's how much force he's bringing, like an explosion."
Cornerback Kyle Arrington was curious.
"I'm interested to see what 'Sport Science' [might] do," he said, laughing. "It's pretty forceful. That's a big guy, strong and tall. That's coming from a lot of altitude."
Said wide receiver Brandon LaFell, who has been dangerously close to the point of impact on several occasions: "A Gronk spike is like a crackback block in the middle of the field. It just makes everybody go crazy."
Said safety Patrick Chung: "A sandwich that you hate and there's no trash can around."
Said wide receiver Julian Edelman: "A Gronk spike is almost like a "Donkey Kong' punch. The video game, the old one, where they used to, like, throw, like, the barrels? I mean, that's kind of like Gronk. Old-school -- '90s."
Defensive end Chandler Jones' first answer was the "equivalent to a Chandler Jones sack."
Then he thought about it some more. "No," Jones said, "a Gronk spike is like a kid on Christmas morning. You can't really hear them, but they're enthusiastic and powerful."
Like the man himself.
"If you look at it in slow motion," observed running back LeGarrette Blount, "you see all the little black [rubber] pellets come up out of the ground. Man, it looks like an earthquake."
The grounds crew should probably have the sand ready to replace those divots.
"He's obviously a huge key to what we do," quarterback Tom Brady said at media day. "Him being out there and healthy for our team -- we haven't had that in a long time. So he's excited."
Don't say you weren't warned.
"I have been close to the Gronk spike a couple times," said wide receiver Danny Amendola. "It's something to see when you're a fan in the stadium. But when you're a couple yards away from it, it's life-changing, for sure.
"If I was, like, an usher in the front row, I would be kind of alert at all times. But I've got a helmet on, pads and stuff. I'll be all right."
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