Rob Gronkowski walked away from football near the top of his game, but if he had a second chance, he might have called it quits even sooner.
The former New England Patriots tight end seems like a new man after retiring last spring. The former All-Pro has been able to dive into business opportunities all over the place, and more importantly, he feels good as ever physically.
In an interview Thursday with Barstool Sports’ Barstool Radio, Gronkowski revealed his final season with the Patriots was a brutal one.
“I knew it was time,” Gronkowski said. “I truly knew it was my time. I thought it was my time the year before and I stretched it out one more year and then after that year, I was like, ‘OK.’”
That final year did allow Gronkowski to go out on top. He made a clutch catch to help set up the Patriots’ game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, and he walked away a winner. Despite that ultimate success, Gronkowski says he wasn’t at nearly the level he once was in 2018.
“Definitely 100 percent lost a step. I can tell you that, 100 percent, I lost a step,” he said. “I actually lost like three steps some games. I didn’t even want to be on the field. I was like, ‘Yo, I feel like complete ass.’ Like, ‘Coach, put friggin’ Dwayne (Allen) in. I don’t even care.’
“I was at that point, and when you’re at that point, you know you gotta walk away from the game. But I wasn’t halfway through the season, and I wasn’t going to walk away from the game, but I can tell you this: that step I lost, I’m like two steps ahead of that now. I’m that much quicker, that’s what’s cool.”
So, with Gronkowski feeling better and rejuvenated, is a return to the NFL in the cards?
“I love competing, and I don’t know, man,” he said. “I would say the door will always be open, man. There are some times, I’m only 30 years old, and I’m in better shape than ever and there was like three times where I was like ‘Dang, what if I was playing? I kind of miss it.’ And those times lasted like an hour each. It would have to last like literally a month straight like ‘I need to play football.’”
