Just a few years ago, Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL. Gronk had simply had enough as his injuries were catching up to him. His body was always hurting him, and it became clear that he just wanted to enjoy retirement without harming his body any more than he already had.
Eventually, Gronk came back to the NFL so that he could play with Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This led to Gronk winning his fourth Super Bowl title alongside his favorite quarterback.
After losing to the Rams this year, Gronk was forced into making a very tough decision. At the age of 33, he could either retire again or run it back. According to reporter Jordan Schulz, Gronk has chosen the former as he is officially retiring from the game.
While this is huge news, there are some people who believe Gronk could be back. For instance, his agent Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter that if Brady comes calling, Gronk is going to have a very difficult time saying "no."
“It would not surprise me if Tom Brady calls him during the season to come back and Rob answers the call," Rosenhaus said. "This is just my opinion but I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob comes back during the season or next season.”
No matter what Gronk does, there is no denying that he is one of the best tight ends in the history of the game. You can read his statement on his retirement, down below.
Per Gronk:
"In college, I was asked to write about a dream job opportunity that I wanted to pursue and where the location would be. Every time I had to write about my future, no matter what, I picked being a professional football player. For that assignment though, we had to pick the location. So I wrote that I wanted to play in Tampa for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for many reasons, the sunny weather being #1. I completely forgot about writing this report until 2 years ago when I had the opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And let me tell ya, the journey in Tampa over the last 2 years has blown away what I originally wrote about in college, big time. And for this, I want to thank the whole entire first class Buccaneers organization for an amazing ride, trusting me to come back to play and help build a championship team. I will now be going back into my retirement home, walking away from football again with my head held high knowing I gave it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field. The friendships and relationships I have made will last forever, and I appreciate every single one of my teammates and coaches for giving everything they had as well. From retirement, back to football and winning another championship and now back to chilling out, thank you to all. Buccaneers fans, the Krewe, without you guys, none of this is possible, all of ya brought it every game, thank you for all you do. Cheers to what’s next, maybe sailing the seas. Arghhhhhh!!"