Could Gronk be coming out of retirement?? That’s the question on everyone’s mind after news broke about the former tight end Rob Gronkowski working out with ex-QB Tom Brady at UCLA yesterday, with Rob running routes and catching passes from Brady.
According to TMZ Sports, Rob Gronkowski was in town for the second annual Monster Energy $50K Charity Challenge Celebrity Basketball Game set to tip off at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Monday night, and he decided to lend his longtime quarterback a helping hand.
“It was great working out. Tom needs someone to throw to so, you know, he calls Mr. Reliable Robbie G the one and only.”
While Pats fans would love nothing more than to see Gronkowski don his Patriots jersey once again and dominate on the field with Brady at his side, the former All-Pro tight end insists that he is done with football for good. And given that he sold his incredible Boston condo (for $2.3 million), it looks like he’s saying goodbye to Boston once and for all.
Appearing last week on The Rich Eisen Show, Gronkowski insisted that he’s enjoying his downtime, and that he was excited to take some time away and relax after putting his body through the wringer throughout his 9 year NFL career. He also admitted to losing nearly 18 pounds, down to around 250 pounds after being listed at 268 last year.
Gronkowski also discussed whether he anticipates missing playing in the NFL:
“Oh man, there’s definitely going to be times when you miss it and everything, but I would also say that it’s still the offseason right now. I can’t really say how I’m going to feel about it when the games start rolling around and everything. But, you know, I just felt like it was time. I feel really good right now. It just definitely is something that I thought it was the right timing and the right thing to do.”
Of course, this begs the question – Could having an innocent catch with the Hall of Fame QB get Gronk’s juices flowing and convince him to come out of retirement for one last season of glory with the Patriots? Tom Brady would definitely benefit from the return of a big, athletic weapon like Gronkowski, who caught 522 passes for 7,861 receiving yards and 79 touchdowns over 115 regular-season games in New England.
Even if (and that’s a big if) Rob Gronkowski decided to come back for one more season, he would need to bulk up before any sort of return, as he’s dropped some serious weight. So we likely wouldn’t see him report to training camp with Brady and the Pats on July 25th.
In the meantime, the Patriots have brought veteran Benjamin Watson out of retirement to fill Gronk’s position, though he’s suspended for the first four games of the season due to failing a drug test in March. Watson is also one of the NFL’s oldest players at 38.
As a Patriots fan, I would love nothing more than to see Gronk take to the field for one more season. But yeah, I’m not holding my breath..
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