Former New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison went off about Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski partying shirtless in Indianapolis after New England’s loss in Super Bowl XLVI on ESPN radio 1000 in Chicago last week. Was this really fair criticism?

I get where Harrison is coming from and I love him on NBC’s Football Night in America with another favorite of mine Tony Dungy, but I feel Gronk can deal with a loss anyway he sees fit. Sure, it wasn’t a requirement to go to that party and a lot of the Patriots didn’t attend. But then again he is a young guy at only 22 years of age and he doesn’t really take himself too seriously.

It must be a very stressful experience playing in a Super Bowl and then ending up on the losing team too. Everybody copes with pressure differently and one can take the famous case of Michael Jordan who would go to Vegas in between games in the NBA Finals to blow off steam. But still I agree with Rodney Harrison to an extent that it can look bad and fans and coaches will not be very pleased.

However, this piece by Yahoo sports illustrates how Gronkowski’s younger age and anticipated bigger window of opportunity would explain his reactions to a Super Bowl loss in comparison to Harrison. I also enjoyed this article by Bill Plaschke in the Los Angeles Times which really gives a different spin on the whole thing.

But I think Gronk may have regretted what happened and at the end of the day he is one of the more prolific tight ends in the NFL even if he can be a goofball at times.