Rob Gronkowski Estimates He’s Had 20 Concussions, Including Five ‘Blackout Ones’

For as successful as Rob Gronkowski’s football career was, it was just as if not more painful.

The former New England Patriots superstar retired in the spring, walking away from a wildly impressive career. In the end, Gronkowski got tired of the physical and mental grind that came with playing in the NFL, especially for such an important player who it seemed was sometimes impossible to take down.

As part of Gronkowski’s seemingly never-ending media tour following the announcement of his partnership with a CBD company, the former Patriots star is doing what was forbidden for so long in Foxboro: talking about his injuries.

In an interview with CBS News, Gronkowski casually rehashed his injury history while answering a question about whether he’d let his son play football. Almost matter of factly, Gronkowski estimated he suffered 20 concussions in his career, five of which were “blackout” concussions.

That’s fairly alarming.

Gronkowski had just two documented or reported concussions during his NFL career. The first came in 2013 in a game against the Cleveland Browns on a play that also resulted in Gronkowski tearing his ACL and MCL. He suffered another concussion in 2018 during the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars but was cleared to return for the Super Bowl.

Gronkowski once again fielded questions about a potential return to the NFL, and once again did not shut down the idea. Of course, it still seems like a longshot for the 30-year-old.

“I have to be really feeling it to come back and I’m in a good place right now,” Gronkowski said.

Given the hulking tight end’s injury situation, that’s not very hard to believe.