The New England Patriots marched into the Super Bowl after registering their first postseason win in the Mile-High City against the Denver Broncos. Now with just the Seattle Seahawks standing in their way, the New England’s chances of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy are in jeopardy, thanks to a curse from franchise legend Rob Gronkowski.

Over the past three seasons, every team picked by Gronk to win the Super Bowl has suffered defeat, and now, after the legendary tight end’s prediction for this year’s Big Game, the Patriots could be next.

“Well, I’m going to break the trend of being wrong,” Gronkowski said during an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon Show. “And I’m going with the New England Patriots. I will be right this time. And I’m going with the same score as when we beat them in Super Bowl XLIX: New England 28, Seattle 24.”

In 2023, Gronk picked the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, where the Patrick Mahomes-led side emerged victorious. Then, in 2024, the star tight end once again went against the Chiefs as he picked the San Francisco 49ers and was proved wrong. However, in 2025, when Gronkowski finally backed the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles dominated them in Super Bowl 59 to register a 40-22 win.

Hence, this year, Rob Gronkowski hopes to break his Super Bowl curse by placing his trust in Drake Maye and the Mike Vrabel-led Patriots, who have completed one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in NFL history. New England finished the 2024-25 season with a 4-13 record, which led to the firing of Jerod Mayo in January last year. Replacing Mayo, Robert Kraft and Co. brought in a former Patriots star, Mike Vrabel, who had just finished a consulting gig with the Cleveland Browns.

Whether the curse ultimately backfires on Mike Vrabel’s Patriots will be decided on February 9.

With Vrabel as the head coach and sophomore signal-caller Drake Maye as their QB1, the Patriots maximized their fourth-place schedule to finish the 2025-26 season with a 14-3 record and the AFC East championship. Furthermore, this stellar record and his 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns helped him earn an NFL All-Pro second-team nod and have made him one of the top contenders for the MVP trophy.

Now with the Super Bowl next on the schedule, New England supporters will hope their QB1 can continue putting up top numbers despite his recent injury concerns.

The Patriots list Drake Maye as limited ahead of SB week

After his gritty performance in the AFC Championship against the Denver Broncos, New England deemed Drake Maye a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, leading up to the Super Bowl. This decision by the Patriots was taken because of Maye’s banged-up right shoulder, as the New England QB1 acknowledged having “bumps and bruises” after the win in Denver.

Maye was 10-of-21 for 86 yards and was sacked five times in Sunday’s game. He rushed 10 times for 65 yards and a touchdown. However, the injury concerns stem from the third quarter when Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga tackled him and landed hard on his right shoulder at the end of a 13-yard run.

But despite these issues, Maye appeared confident about his injury during an interview with sports radio WEEI.

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“I’m feeling good,” Maye said. “Going to get some extra rest. I really don’t think it was from the game, but just the build-up from throwing—this is what, including training camp, 30 weeks of straight of throwing, four days a week. It can add up. I got some extra rest, feeling good and ready to go for the Super Bowl.”

After these comments, the Patriots fans and Rob Gronkowski would hope that Drake Maye can continue his stellar form and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Foxborough.