Rob Gronkowski, Stevan Ridley Visit Marathon Bombing Victims

Rob Gronkowski is, for lack of a better word, a goofball. He parties a lot, hangs out with porn stars, and likes to wrestle his buddies at Las Vegas nightclubs. But underneath his bro exoskeleton, there’s a big heart. That was abundantly clear when he visited Boston Marathon bombing victims at the hospital. On Monday, the Patriots tight end made the rounds with teammate Stevan Ridley. Afterward, Ridley tweeted out this picture:

As Tom Ley of Deadspin put it, “Gronk could probably start a second career as a human comfort dog.” Over the last week, there have been an abundance of sports-related tributes to the city. As our own Jason Schwartz astutely pointed out on Thursday, there’s more to Boston than its four major professional sports teams. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that athletes like Ridley and Gronkowski are taking time to bring a little bit of joy to people who have been through hell.