Gronk is hanging up his helmet…again.
After fellow “Bad Boy For Life” Tom Brady announced he would come back for his 23rd NFL season earlier this year, Gronkowski has decided he will not follow suit.
Here is the full statement Gronkowski posted today:
In college, I was asked to write about a dream job opportunity that I wanted to pursue and where the location would be. Every time I had to write about my future, no matter what, I picked being a professional football player. For that assignment though, we had to pick the location. So I wrote that I wanted to play in Tampa for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for many reasons, the sunny weather being #1. I completely forgot about writing this report until 2 years ago when I had the opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And let me tell ya, the journey in Tampa over the last 2 years has blown away what I originally wrote about in college, big time. And for this, I want to thank the whole entire first class Buccaneers organization for an amazing ride, trusting me to come back to play and help build a championship team. I will now be going back into my retirement home, walking away from football again with my head held high knowing I gave it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field. The friendships and relationships I have made will last forever, and I appreciate every single one of my teammates and coaches for giving everything they had as well. From retirement, back to football and winning another championship and now back to chilling out, thank you to all. Buccaneers 🏴☠️ fans, the Krewe, without you guys, none of this is possible, all of ya brought it every game, thank you for all you do. Cheers to what’s next, maybe sailing the seas 🏴☠️ Arghhhhhh!!
The sure-fire Hall-of Fame tight end is going out on a high note. Despite playing in just 12 games last season, Gronkowski caught 55 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns. According to CBS, it was his best statistical season since 2017.
Gronkowski was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round with the 42nd overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. He played in New England with Brady for 10 years, during which time the team won three Super Bowls. Over his career, Gronkowski was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, a four-time First Team All-Pro selection and was selected as part of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
The popular Gronkowski, who stepped away from the NFL for the first time in 2018 at age 30, returned to the sport after Brady announced he would unretire and play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The duo led the Bucs to its first Super Bowl Championship in 2021.
During his first retirement, the likable Gronkowski ramped up a career in Hollywood. He signed on as an NFL analyst for Fox Sports was revealed to be the White Tiger on Fox’s The Masked Singer, and was part of CBS’ Game On! remake of James Corden’s UK reality competition series that is due to air this summer. Earlier this month, he even won the WWE’s 24/7 Championship at Wrestlemania 36.