Rob Gronkowski

Watch: Rob Gronkowski meets baby rhino named after him

"I just wanna say it is an honor to meet you baby Gronk, and you are my new inspiration."

Rob Gronkowski met a baby rhino named after him on Friday. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

By Conor Roche

Rob Gronkowski appears to finally be at home in Tampa Bay.

The star tight end caught his first touchdown pass as a Buccaneer in their blowout win over the Packers last week, finishing the game with five catches for a season-high 78 yards.

On Friday, the ZooTampa at Lowry Park introduced a baby rhino named Gronk.

“Two Gronks are better than one! We are thrilled to introduce our new baby Rhino calf, Gronk, named after Tampa Bay Buccaneer @RobGronkowski!” the zoo announced on its Twitter page. 

Gronkowski had the honor of meeting his namesake.

“Hello baby Gronk, it’s very nice to meet you,” Gronkowski said in a video of him in a FaceTime call with the rhino. “It is Rob Gronkowski here from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I just wanna say it is an honor to have you named after me.”

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Gronkowski joked that he and the rhino might be related.

“Let me tell you something, people say I look like a dinosaur and they call me ‘Gronkosaurus,'” Gronkowski said. “So, I think you’re my long lost cousin out there and you are the Gronk rhinosaurus coming from the Gronkosaurus.”

Before saying goodbye, Gronkowski wanted to show his admiration for the baby rhino.

“I just wanna say that I have heard that you are super fast, big, strong, good-looking, very nice skin, very cuddaful – which means you like to cuddle, people love to cuddle you,” Gronkowski said. “I just wanna say it is an honor to meet you baby Gronk, and you are my new inspiration.”

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