Terry Bradshaw Only in Second Hour of FOX NFL Sunday; Gronkowski Out

Who is on the panel

Host Curt Menefee leads the 9 a.m. ET show with analysts Michael Strahan and Julian Edelman. Both are borrowed from FOX NFL Kickoff, which will not air this week.

For the 12:30 p.m. ET hour, they will be joined by the regulars: Bradshaw, Howie Long and NFL insider Jay Glazer.

Gronkowski in Tucson

The likely explanation for his absence came the day before. Gronkowski, the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end, appeared on FOX's college football pregame show Big Noon Kickoff. The broadcast came from the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, ahead of the Wildcats' game against Utah.

It was a homecoming. Gronkowski spent three years at Arizona before the Patriots picked him in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

The crowd around the set went wild as he opened the show and launched what he called a "Gronk-a-Palooza." The Arizona brass band played, and he was later carried on a throne, declaring "the king is back" while sipping a beer.

In another segment, Gronkowski enlisted Wildcats mascots Wilbur and Wilma and volunteers from the crowd to perform his "Gronk Spike." He claimed they would set a new "world record" of more than 40 footballs spiked at once. He also spiked a watermelon.

The Big Noon Kickoff crew brought up the hobbies Gronkowski listed on his high school profile as a senior. They were "working out, playing sports, and chicks." His verdict: "I got nothing to say."

He said none of the three brought him to Arizona. "It was actually the pool parties," Gronkowski claimed.

He also told viewers that unbeaten Utah was in town and promised an "upset alert." After a two-hour Big Noon Kickoff appearance, skipping FOX NFL Sunday the next day is no surprise.