Tuesday night, former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski turned heads when he picked up a LEGO recreation of TV host Steve Harvey and smashed it on the ground. This was done in an effort to recreate the feeling of scoring a touchdown and going the “Gronk Spike” that the tight end popularized during his nine-year tenure with the New England Patriots.
Considering that he scored 79 touchdowns throughout his career, there were many opportunities for the longtime tight end to throw the football down with his signature move. However, Gronkowski has not played football all season long after opting to retire during the offseason. Smashing the LEGO bust was his best opportunity to recreate that feeling.
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Motivation aside, the reactions to this interaction on Tuesday night were quite varied. Some fans used this as an excuse to explain why they don’t like Gronkowski while others said that it was nice to see him take Harvey down a peg.
The third sect of users on Twitter, however, simply saw this entire sequence of late-night events as a gag for the FOX broadcast. They didn’t believe that Harvey was actually angry with Gronkowski.
(Photo Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty)
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The after math Steve threw me because he was cool with him production prob said just end it on a good note. Thereโs no way that was a joke
โ RealiTEA (@Korrs_Michael89) January 1, 2020
Was this a bit for the TV audience, or did Gronkowski actually make Harvey angry by spiking the LEGO bust into the ground? The reactions were certainly split, but a majority of fans believed that this was not pre-planned. In fact, some thought that Harvey was legitimately angry.
However, this was a national broadcast. The fans thought that it would problematic if Harvey showed off his rage to the viewers counting down the minutes until a new year began.ย
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Steve Harvey kind of deserved it……..
โ Buckeye Shane (@getyorocksoff) January 1, 2020
Harvey is a man that has been viewed as divisive in the past. Some fans love him for his work onย Family Feudย and theย NFL Honors while others are big fans of his stand-up comedy routines from years past. However, there are some that don’t have a fondness for Harvey after he reportedly sent a memo to the staff of his former talk show that told them to avoid interacting with him unless summoned.ย
Following this interaction between Gronkowski and Harvey on social media, there were many that expressed happiness about the LEGO bust being smashed. Some users said that the likeness was just another example of Harvey’s ego, and they were happy that it was destroyed.ย
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That’s messed up that he destroyed someone’s hard work
โ Nicolasa (@not_1257) January 1, 2020
While many users on social media were happy to see the LEGO Harvey get destroyed by Gronkowski, there were others that were incredibly angry. They didn’t have a particular affinity for the former NFL tight end or the comedian. These users were just upset due to the hard work going to waste.ย
As many individuals have learned over the years, building a piece of art out of LEGO blocks is not easy. It’s a very time-intensive process even when given a set of directions. It takes hours to create the Death Star out of blocks and, potentially, even longer to recreate a human’s face.ย
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Horrible. Big ups to Harvey for staying professional so America’s wouldn’t mood wouldn’t sour. Keeping that smile after commercial had a purpose. Gronk’s kicks/dancing afterwards was so insulting. #brownlegos #SteveHarvey #gronk #LEGO
โ james rib (@saywhatnowrva) January 1, 2020
Opinions were split about this Gronk Spike and Harvey’s reaction, but a majority believed that it was not a scripted event. The debate raged on even after the comedian in Harvey posted a sequence of photos depicting the spike that broke his likeness.ย
While the little comment of “stay tuned!” made it appear that Harvey knew the spike was planned, others did not have this opinion. They believed that this was an unplanned interaction and that he was simply showing professionalism by maintaining his composure.ย
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Steve Harvey, sober.
โ Andrew Hammond (@ahammTNT) January 1, 2020
Rob Gronkowski, NOT sober. pic.twitter.com/W8EYlFL9xO
While many debated whether or not this was an actual planned event for New Year’s Eve, others thought about the other details. Specifically, did Gronkowski have anything to drink prior to co-hosting the celebration? The former New England Patriots tight end has been known to enjoy adult beverages in the past, and some users thought that this may have played a role in the Gronk Spike.ย
Whether it was the way he danced around with the LEGO bust or the cadence of his voice, there were many that simply saw the Gronk Spike as evidence that the former tight end was under the influence. This was never proven to be true or false, but some were convinced that Gronkowski had been drinking.ย
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What did you do to bring in the New Year? I watched Rob Gronkowski break a lego bust of Steve Harvey in front of Steve who was not amused. I also ate bacon
โ LAGGOON (@Laggin24x) January 1, 2020
Every year, there are hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world that discuss how they rang in the new year. Some brag about making trips to Times Square in New York City while others watch a special concert in Nashville or Los Angeles. As it turns out, there are others that will now be bragging about watching FOX.ย
As many mentioned on social media, they were caught off-guard by the Gronk Spike that destroyed LEGO Steve, but they were happy to have witnessed this interaction. They had all of the entertainment of ringing in the new year and the wild antics that are attached to the event, but they were still able to sit at home in pajamas.ย
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@RobGronkowski Someone put days, maybe weeks into building that Lego piece, and had it on tv for their loved ones to see, and you smashed it. You have no respect. Grow up and apologize.
โ brian sutherland (@briansutherlan8) January 1, 2020
Following Gronkowski smashing the LEGO bust into hundreds of pieces, users on social media reacted in a number of ways. Many found this to be hilarious while others thought that there may have been some alcohol involved. One portion of individuals simply viewed this as disrespectful.
As many wrote on social media, they couldn’t believe that Gronkowski had smashed the bust. Whether or not this was a planned event was irrelevant; they thought it made the former tight end look like a terrible person.ย