Rob Gronkowski, who played nine seasons for the New England Patriots, now gets to spend his days in the Florida sunshine as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So, it really should come as no surprise that he's happy to have left behind the unpredictable climate of Foxboro, Mass.
Gronkowski recently pointed to the weather when ESPN's Mike Reiss asked the Bucs tight end the main thing he doesn't miss about New England.
"The crappy, 'in between' weather," Gronkowski told Reiss. "When it's about 40 degrees, and raining, and cloudy. ... it just throws everything off and feels eerie."
Gronkowski certainly played in some sloppy conditions. And, perhaps appropriately, Mother Nature might leave her fingerprints on Sunday night's showdown between the Patriots and Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium, as forecasts as of Thursday morning called for possible rain later in the game.
Obviously, it's not all doom and gloom in the Northeast, where seasonal changes add to the flavor of the region. But Gronk clearly is a warm-weather guy, further evidenced by his response to Reiss' question about his favorite season in New England.
"I'd go with summertime. It's beautiful there," Gronkowski told Reiss. "Everything is popping. In the other seasons, everyone is kind of bundled up because it's colder, but once summer hits, it's just mayhem. A free-for-all. A great atmosphere overall, with so many places to go to in New England -- from the city of Boston to the Cape, to Newport, to Rhode Island and all the beaches there, and all the way up to New Hampshire."
As for what Gronkowski misses most about New England? Well, his answer might surprise you.
