It appears Rob Gronkowski and his team were thinking about taking a page out of LeBron James’ book.
Gronkowski called it a career Sunday afternoon after nine accolade-filled seasons with the New England Patriots. The 29-year-old took to Instagram to announce the decision, but a much grander stage reportedly was considered to deliver the news.
“The idea was kicked around that Gronk would have some sort of public television, or cable TV, PPV — I don’t know what form it would be,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Monday on Mut & Callahan, as transcribed by WEEI. “I don’t know the details, but I could tell you for a fact the idea was bandied about whether he would do something like this, announcing his retirement in a broadcast way where there would be a decision. It obviously never got legs. It never gained traction, but that idea was kicked about and the way it was described to me was he wants to do his retirement in a public way.
“That was the first sign a couple weeks back that I was like, ‘OK, I guess there’s a real chance he might not be playing again.’ I called people and they denied it to me, but I know those conversations occurred.”
James, as most will remember, was torched for “The Decision,” but one has to imagine the reception for a Gronk retirement TV special would have been differently received. You’d be hard-pressed to find many — if any — sports fans who aren’t at least entertained by the five-time Pro Bowl selection, who likely would have delivered his patented wild antics and charisma had the show come to fruition.
It sounds like we could be seeing quite a bit of Gronk on both television and movie screens moving forward, though. The three-time Super Bowl champ’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, hinted that his client will be venturing into the entertainment industry now that his playing days are over.
