Rob Gronkowski made it official on Tuesday and announced his retirement after 11 NFL seasons, two of which he spent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Gronk might have played most of his Hall of Fame-worthy career with the New England Patriots but his short stint with the Bucs was pretty memorable.
In 2020, Gronkowski caught 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season. He also caught two touchdown passes from Tom Brady in the Buccaneers’ 31–9 victory in Super Bowl LV, which also made him the first player in NFL history to catch a pass in five different Super Bowls. In 2021, Gronk followed that up with 55 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games.
Gronk finishes his NFL career with 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns.
After he announced his retirement (again), the Buccaneers released a statement of their own from GM Jason Licht.
"Rob is a true professional who left it all on the field for us the past two seasons and helped establish a championship culture in our building."
🗣: @jasonrlicht on @RobGronkowski pic.twitter.com/RWbPhHqYJa
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) June 21, 2022
“Rob is a true professional who left it all on the field for us the past two seasons and helped establish a championship culture in our building,” wrote Licht. “It is always difficult to see a great player walk away from the game when he still enjoying that kind of success, but the overwhelming emotions I feel today are gratitude and respect for one of the greatest tight ends who ever played the game.”
His time with the Buccaneers may have been brief, but you can expect Tampa Bay to be fond of Gronk for many years to come.
