Rob Gronkowski has been retired for a year, but the 33-year-old seemingly has kept the door open for an NFL return.
The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end put Twitter in a frenzy after he tweeted, “I’m kinda bored,” on Wednesday. The situation ended up being a marketing stunt for a FanDuel partnership.
However, it didn’t stop two NFL teams from reaching out to Gronkowski about a second comeback. Gronk was sly about whether one of those teams was one he previously played for, but it turned out this was not the first time he has teased a comeback.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles confirmed he spoke with Gronkowski around Thanksgiving when the latter discussed the idea of returning to play with Tom Brady again.
“It was more of a conversation than anything else,” Bowles told reporters, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Usually, when you have to think about playing, you probably don’t want to play. When it’s just a discussion, I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
The four-time Super Bowl champion remains retired as of Friday. But the Buccaneers sure could use his services.
Tampa Bay has utilized rookies Cade Otton and Ko Kieft at tight end, along with veterans Cameron Brate and Kyle Rudolph, which has not produced the best of results.
The Buccaneers are 6-8 heading into their “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. A win would help build on their NFC South lead and help them earn a playoff spot.
