Gronkowski: 'Almost isn't enough' on Hail Mary pass
Football Betting Lines
02/06/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took Rob Gronkowski nearly an entire half to make his first catch in the Super Bowl.
Later, the injured Patriots tight end was several tortured inches away from snaring a Hail Mary pass that would have won the game.
"We almost had it," Gronkowski said, sullen after his team's 21-17 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night. "But almost isn't enough."
Gronkowski played despite suffering a high ankle sprain in the AFC title game two weeks ago and had two catches for 26 yards.
But the bigger plays ended up being two catches he couldn't make, including a Tom Brady heave on the second play of the fourth quarter that was intercepted by Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn.
On the game's final play, after the Giants had taken the lead with 57 seconds remaining, Brady let loose from beyond midfield on a pass that tracked toward tight end Aaron Hernandez in the end zone.
Hernandez was socked in, surrounded by three Giants defenders as he leapt for the pass, and Gronkowski was in front of the pack.
"It was a jump ball," Gronkowski said. "Aaron did a good job."
But Gronkowski didn't react quickly enough -- or couldn't react quickly enough -- after the ball was deflected. He stumbled forward and reached, but the ball fell incomplete just out of his grasp.
A picture showed Gronkowski's white-gloved hands tantalizingly close to the football in the middle of the end zone, with a referee nearby ready to make a call.
It could have been an all-time great moment in the NFL. Instead, the ball hit the turf and New York celebrated its second Super Bowl win over the Patriots in five seasons.
"I kind of saw it at the last second and I was close," said Gronkowski. "But that doesn't matter. I didn't get it."
Gronkowski set single-season NFL records for tight ends with 1,327 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. The only real mystery leading up to Sunday's game was how healthy he would be.
His first catch of the game was a 20-yarder for first down during a 96-yard touchdown march near the end of the first half that tied a Super Bowl record for the longest drive.
Later, Gronkowski flashed open and waved his hand to get Brady's attention as three defenders closed on the quarterback. But he just wasn't able to recover in time to get position on Blackburn, who picked the pass off at the Giants' eight-yard line.
"He just made a good play," Gronkowski said. "He backed me up pretty well and went up and made a good play."
Gronkowski, who was wearing a walking boot up until earlier in the week, shook off questions about his injury after the game, saying he was ready to play.
"I was out there," said Gronkowski. "I was 100 percent."
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - At one point in his life, Jason Pierre-Paul didn't want to be a football player. But after a broken leg ended his basketball career in high school, Pierre-Paul made a decision that sent him on a path to winning a Super B
<< Gronkowski's 1st catch comes on record-tying drive
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took Rob Gronkowski nearly an entire
half to make his first catch in the Super Bowl.
The injured Patriot, who set the tight end record for receiving yards and
touchdowns during the regular sea
<< Released Underwood reacts to Patriots' loss
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former New England Patriots wide receiver
Tiquan Underwood, released a day before the Super Bowl, sent dozens of tweets
during the game Sunday but didn't have much to say immediately after it was
over.
<< Again! Giants top Patriots to win Super Bowl
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eli Manning and the New York Giants did it
again, beating the New England Patriots with another game-winning drive in the
Super Bowl.
Ahmad Bradshaw scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds remai
<< Giants lose TEs Ballard, Beckum to injuries
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants lost tight ends Jake
Ballard and Travis Beckum to knee injuries in Sunday's Super Bowl against the
Patriots.
Ballard went down with a left knee injury early in the fourth quarter. Re
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Is Eli Manning elite? That's likely no longer a concern for the New York Giants quarterback. Manning won his second Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award Sunday after leading the Giants on another
FCS Giants bask in Super Bowl triumph >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They're Super beyond the FCS level.
A contingent of former FCS players are reveling in the New York Giants' 21-17
win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI Sunday night.
The Giants' roster inc
I'll Have Another - The Overlay of the Century >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - How many times does a gambler like a horse and wish the
odds could have been much higher than they were? It does not happen that often
but when the unforeseen takes place, it's best to take the money and ask
questio
Farrington expected to become VMI's defensive coordinator >>
Lexington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - VMI is expected to name Jeff Farrington as
the new defensive coordinator of its football program later this month.
Farrington became Mercer University's defensive coordinator last July as it
builds a program
Cirstea advances in Thailand >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Romanian Sorana Cirstea was an easy
first-round winner Monday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament.
The seventh-seeded Cirstea blew past Japanese Erika Sema 6-2, 6-2 on the
hardcourt
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.