Just when you thought Tom Brady was finally going to get his stolen Super Bowl jersey back, it was snatched from him again — this time by his own teammate, Rob Gronkowski.
The New England Patriots quarterback had to sprint after his speedy tight end on Monday to retrieve the valuable memorabilia that he wore during the historic comeback in Super Bowl LI over the Atlanta Falcons.
The elaborate stunt was part of the opening day celebrations for the Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, where Brady and Gronk were joined by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and teammates James White and Dion Lewis.
After they emerged from the Green Monster with all five of their Vince Lombardi trophies, Brady stripped off his recovered white jersey and waved it in the air, which is when Gronk made his move — grabbing it and sprinting across the grass.
Brady, who is infamous among NFL fans for his lack of running speed, took off after the speedy (and much younger) TE and tackled him to the ground — but we’re pretty sure Gronk let him catch up on purpose. Either way, Gronk still looked pretty hyped up after making his WWE debut the night before with Mojo Rawley at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
Following an international investigation that ended in Mexico, the Super Bowl MVP officially got his jersey returned to him earlier in the day by Kraft.
The Patriots tweeted a video of the team owner presenting Brady with the two No. 12 jerseys that had been missing. The second was from the 2015 Super Bowl.
Kraft also thanked the authorities who found the jerseys while searching the property of Mexican media executive Martin Mauricio Ortega, according to the Associated Press.
Brady threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway on Monday, before the Red Sox went to enjoy a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fortunately, even the losing players found the Patriots’ stunt amusing.
“It was pretty hard not to,” Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole said. “Tom Brady is on the field, and he’s tackling Gronk. It’s a pretty special environment. I’ll probably forget everything after the fourth inning.”