Over the past several months, one of the loudest and fiercest debates in sports has been whether or not transgender women should be allowed to participate in women’s athletics. And it seems like legendary NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski has given his answer to the debate.
This week, Rob Gronkowski was asked about his stance on the issue by a reporter from The Daily Caller. And while the legendary tight end didn’t have many words to share with the reporter during the brief exchange, he certainly said enough to make his stance very clear.
“Mr. Gronkowski, I’m with the Daily Caller. I just wanted to ask you, should men be allowed to play in women’s sports?” the reporter asked, presumably referring to transgender women as “men” in this case, perpetuating anti-trans rhetoric.
Gronkowski did not give a verbal answer to the reporter, but he looked right into the camera and shook his head to indicate that his answer was “no.”
Obviously, this answer from Gronkowski generated quite a lot of buzz on social media.
Uh oh. We'll see what happens with his advertisers. https://t.co/gJCT64rp8e
— Steb🦃☘️ (@stevewalsh0) September 13, 2023
The reality is, the First Amendment gives us the right to say what we believe. Why should this be an issue? If we agree or don't… what's the difference. We should have the right to our opinion.
— Tony Cordileone (@TonyCordileone) September 13, 2023
The question was "men" not "trans women", so not sure why you're patting yourself on the back for toxic behavior
— Aeoliana (@Aeoliana) September 13, 2023
He better watch himself https://t.co/fcgz7u5mxZ
— Badass Billy Gunn (@Willing2GoHamm) September 14, 2023
“Men dominating women’s sports” you all are a group of real losers https://t.co/XJRo11wu5d
— breobbie (@hibreon) September 14, 2023
it baffles me (actually, not really i’m just disappointed) that this conflict which is minuscule in the scope of things that actually matter continues to dominate the news reels https://t.co/RLk8aTAib4
— Jeff On Sports (@j_shao_) September 14, 2023
To be fair, Gronkowski simply said he didn’t think that “men” should compete in women’s sports, not transgender women, so there’s a chance he simply misunderstood the question. But it’s quite clear what the reporter meant when asking the question.
