Gronk addresses why he left Patriots out of retirement post originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Rob Gronkowski pulled a Tom Brady with his recent retirement announcement.
The former New England Patriots tight end took to social media with a heartfelt statement on his time in Tampa Bay, but no mention of his stint in Foxboro. While the glaring omission undoubtedly rubbed Patriots fans the wrong way, Gronkowski wants to make it clear it was nothing personal.
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“I think it’s a little blown out of proportion,” Gronkowski told NESN on Tuesday. “I mean, I kind of did it when, you know, my first retirement.”
“There’s no doubt I love New England. I love all the fans here in New England. There’s no doubt. But I felt like that speech or whatever, the time and place I did for the first one was great, and I was just kind of giving it for that retirement for the two years I had in Tampa. But I think it was blown out of proportion maybe a little. But I love New England, love everything about it.”
Gronk indeed thanked the Patriots in a lengthy post back when he first retired in 2019. He took the following season off from football before joining Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and adding another Super Bowl ring to his collection.
Understandably, there’s been speculation that Gronkowski will unretire again if Brady — who also had a change of heart about retirement — comes calling. He squashed those rumors on Tuesday.
“I would answer, obviously, the greatest quarterback of all time,” Gronkowski told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “Ask him how he’s doing. Tell him I’m going good. But I wouldn’t go back to football — no.”
If this is in fact the last we’ve seen of Gronkowski on the field, his next stop will be Canton, Ohio for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.