After months of speculation about whether or not he’d play one more year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tight end Rob Gronkowski is hanging up the cleats.
After 11 years in the NFL, Gronk announced his retirement on social media on Tuesday.
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) June 21, 2022
“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,” Gronkowski wrote.
“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.”
It’s the second time that Gronkowski has announced his retirement from the NFL, having done so two years ago before rejoining former Patriots teammate Tom Brady in Tampa.
Gronkowski spent nine seasons with the Patriots and two with the Buccaneers, winning four Super Bowls, going to five Pro Bowls, and being named an All-Pro First-Teamer four times. He completes his NFL career with 621 passes, 9,286 yards, and 92 touchdowns. Considered one of the best tight ends in NFL history, Gronk was named to both the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
The news that Gronk was officially retiring generated some strong reactions from the NFL world.
Never changed. Worked hard, played harder. Always kind. I hope you continue “never not dancing” with @camillekostek NFL parties and the field will be a little less fun @RobGronkowski https://t.co/K4JmQORp2v
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) June 21, 2022
Congrats to @robgronkowski on an incredible football career! A Wildcat legend, whose contribution to the University of Arizona Football program is greatly appreciated. Good luck in retirement 😎 https://t.co/SmhMvnqggj
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) June 21, 2022
End of the road for Gronk announcing his retirement. Certainly a good argument for best TE ever. https://t.co/WLT8IPji9k
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) June 21, 2022
Was a pleasure covering this guy for his final 2 NFL seasons.
Will be interesting to see what the #Bucs do at TE. Think it’ll be a blocking/red zone position for them this year https://t.co/q7dp7dY2g6
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) June 21, 2022
One of the best to ever do it. https://t.co/ZlQFw2Ga0T
— Lindsay Rhodes (@lindsay_rhodes) June 21, 2022
Of course, when it comes to former Patriots playing for the Buccaneers, it’s always hard to know when retirement actually means retirement. But it sure sounds like Gronk is done playing.
[Gronk]
