A guy who catches a touchdown pass in his first NFL game can wear his hair any way he likes/Photo by Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

New England Patriots’ rookie Rob Gronkowski, who sat out all of last season at Arizona because of back surgery, became a touchdown-maker in his first NFL game.

The ex-Wildcat made a tough, twisting catch over a linebacker in the corner of the end zone, hooking up with quarterback Tom Brady on a 1-yard pass for the Patriots’ final score in a 38-24 victory over Cincinnati.

(As a side note, former UA All-American and New England star Tedy Bruschi — now an ESPN analyst — picked the Bengals last week to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.)

In an brief interview posted by the Boston Herald, Gronkowski was asked if he had seen the ball he caught for a touchdown.

“I think someone has it and they decorate it or something …,” Gronkowski said. “I’m going to definitely keep it myself and send it back home to my family — my parents for the trophy case or something.”

That was his only catch in the opener, but he and fellow tight end Alge Crumpler teamed up as blockers to clear the way for receiver Wes Welker for the game’s first touchdown.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 12th, 2010 at 7:38 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Rob Gronkowski. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.