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With all the talk about Tom Brady reaching his 10th Super Bowl, there has been less discussion about Rob Gronkowski reaching his fifth. But a fifth Super Bowl, which Gronkowski will play on Sunday, is an impressive achievement in itself.
Gronkowski will become the 22nd player in NFL history to play at least five Super Bowls when he takes the field on Sunday. He played in the Super Bowls after the 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Patriots, and he got injured and lost the Super Bowl when the Patriots arrived after the 2016 season.
Brady and Gronk are two of the 22 players who played in at least five Super Bowls, and seven others were Brady’s teammates at the Patriots. Reaching many Super Bowls is usually the mark of a good player, but it is not necessarily the mark of a great player: sometimes, a player who played in many Super Bowls by chance was on several good teams.
Here is the full list of players who played in at least five Super Bowls, counting Brady and Gronkowski on Sunday:
Ten Super Bowls
Tom Brady, New England, XXXVI, XXXVIII-XXXIX, XLII, XLVI, XLIX, LI-LIII; Tampa Bay, LV
Six Super Bowls
Mike Lodish, Buffalo, XXV-XXVIII; Denver, XXXII-XXXIII
Stephen Gostkowski, New England, XLII, XLVI, XLIX, LI-LIII
Five Super Bowls
Marv Fleming, Green Bay, I-II; Miami, VI-VIII
Larry Cole, Dallas, V-VI, X, XII-XIII
Cliff Harris, Dallas, V-VI, X, XII-XIII
Charles Haley, San Francisco, XXIII-XXIV; Dallas, XXVII-XXVIII, XXX
DD Lewis, Dallas, V-VI, X, XII-XIII
Preston Pearson, Baltimore, III; Pittsburgh, IX; Dallas, X, XII-XIII
Charlie Waters, Dallas, V-VI, X, XII-XIII
Rayfield Wright, Dallas, V-VI, X, XII-XIII
Cornelius Bennett, Buffalo, XXV-XXVIII; Atlanta, XXXIII
John Elway, Denver, XXI-XXII, XXIV, XXXII-XXXIII
Glenn Parker, Buffalo, XXV-XXVIII; NY Giants, XXXV
Bill Romanowski, San Francisco, XXIII-XXIV; Denver, XXXII-XXXIII; Oakland, XXXVII
Adam Vinatieri, New England, XXXI, XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX; Indianapolis, XLI
Tedy Bruschi, New England, XXXI, XXXVI, XXXVIII-XXXIX, XLII
Matt Light, New England, XXXVI, XXXVIII-XXXIX, XLII, XLVI
Patrick Chung, New England, XLVI, XLIX, LI-LIII
Devin McCourty, New England, XLVI, XLIX, LI-LIII
Matthew Slater, New England, XLVI, XLIX, LI-LIII
Rob Gronkowski, New England, XLVI, XLIX, LI, LIII; Tampa Bay, LV