Rob Gronkowski believes the hype regarding his decision to exclude the Patriots from his second retirement announcement has been “blown out of proportion.”
The 33-year-old raised eyebrows over his retirement message last month, when he expressed gratitude for the Tampa Bay Bucs without mentioning New England, where he spent the first nine years of his career and won three Super Bowls.
“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.”
Gronkowski initially called it a career in March 2019, a month after winning his third Super Bowl title. During that time, he penned a lengthy tribute to the Patriots.
Just one year later, he return to the NFL and join Tom Brady with the Bucs. The dynamic duo went on to win a Super Bowl together in their debut season with the team.
When Gronkowski announced in June that he was retiring for the second time, he spoke about his “amazing” experience with the Buccaneers and explained that it had been a dream of his to play in Tampa Bay.
Before Gronkowski officially hung up his cleats for the second time, it was widely believed that he would return for another season, but he recently shut down those rumors.
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“Love the game. Love the game. And definitely blessed with all the opportunities the game of football has given me…. But done with football and stepping my feet into the business,” Gronkowski said.
“I would answer [if Brady called], obviously. I would obviously answer the greatest quarterback of all time, ask him how he’s doing, and tell him I’m doing good, but I wouldn’t go back to football, no,” he said.
Gronkowski wrapped what would be his final season in the league with 55 catches, 802 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
