Rob Gronkowski was pranked on Fox pregame

Before joining Fox NFL Sunday , Rob Gronkowski was one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the NFL. His prodigious talents as a tight end give him insights into talking about the position.

This includes, as we learned on Sunday, when Gronkowski is called upon to talk about a tight end who does not actually exist.

The “segment” was shot during Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season. It was a discussion talked about that week’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, focusing the conversation on Dallas tight end, Rich Russo, who was returning from injury. Gronkowski, along with Curt Menefee, Jay Glazer, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Michael Strahan discussed the impact of his pending return.

The catch? It was a prank on Gronkowski. Russo is a completely fictitious tight end. As part of Sunday’s Week 4 show this year, viewers got to see how the joke played out.

“I just got off the phone with Mike McCarthy,” Glazer said. “And you guys know how big of a weapon Rich Russo is for that team.”

“They just just activated him, right?” Long asked.

“They just activated him,” Glazer confirmed. “They didn’t know if he was gonna be able to play today. They think he’s good to go not only today, but they are gonna put him heavily into that game plan. Expect a lot of Rich Russo.”

“That’s big,” Strahan said. “Because Russo is a complete game-changer. He takes so much pressure off Dak. He takes so much pressure off the run game. Great blocker, great receiver, red zone threat.”

“I thought it was a stretch, though,” Long said. “They were talking about Tony Gonzalez, they talked about Gronk. I don’t think he’s Gronk.”

Long bringing him up as a player Russo had been compared to gave Menefee the chance to bring Gronkowski into the conversation.

“Gronk, where do you list Russo among the tight ends – playing today at least?”

While this was going on, Gronkowski generally maintained a confused look on his face, though that gradually changed as the segment went on. But when he was called upon, he went right into analyzing Russo’s game.

“He’s been out for a little bit so he might be a little rusty coming back,” Gronkowski replied. “But I think they’re gonna give him opportunities. That’s for sure. But also, they got [Jake] Ferguson as well. They’re gonna be a 1-2 combo.”

While Gronkowski was talking, Michael Strahan, who was standing next to him, had to turn away so Gronk could not see him laughing.

Glazer, meanwhile, continued to engage Gronkowski in debate.

“Yeah, but here’s the thing,” Glazer said. “Ferguson has been the guy only ’cause Russo’s been hurt. You gotta admit, with Russo coming back, it just changes their offense.”

“Yeah. But Ferguson has been showing that he’s the guy right now. They’re gonna still feed Ferguson,” an emphatic Gronkowski said.

“He’s the only guy in the league that has two fingers missing on his right hand. That’s why he’s been out. And he’s back now,” Bradshaw said.

Even that didn’t throw Gronkowski completely off. Though, things did quickly go off of the rails shortly thereafter.

“Yeah, but is that gonna affect him when he’s catching a pass?” Gronkowski asked. He later added, “I don’t know, I still have all five of my fingers.”

The crew began to laugh before telling Gronkowski that he actually has 10 fingers. Menefee then let Gronkowski in on it.

“Alright, this is a joke,” Menefee said while everyone else was laughing. “Rich Russo does not play for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I was wondering,” Gronkowski said. “Like right when it was done, I was gonna say, ‘Guys, I never heard of Rich Russo in my life.'”

Things then shifted back to the present day, when Gronkowski gave himself a pair of favorable assessments.

“I learned two things from it,” Gronkowski said. “That I am a funny guy. Two is that I am always ready.”

As it turned out, the Cowboys were handily defeated by the Bills that week, losing 31-10. Perhaps they could have used a player of Rich Russo’s ability.

[Photo Credit: Fox]

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