Welcome to another installment in Musket Fire’s annual jersey number-dictated New England Patriots kick-off countdown series. For the duration of the summer, we will be profiling the player whose jersey number corresponds with the number of days left until the New England Patriots open the season against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 11. Since today marks 87 days until the Sunday Night Football opener, we are profiling No. 87, veteran tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Size: 6-foot-6, 265 pounds
College: Arizona
2015 stats: 72 receptions, 1,176 yards, 11 touchdowns
NFL experience: Six seasons
Hometown: Amherst, NY
Perhaps the single most entertaining personality in football, Gronkowski works a day job as the best tight end the world has seen this century.