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Rob Gronkowski is staying retired, even if his longtime quarterback Tom Brady tries to coax him out again.
Gronkowski, who announced his second NFL retirement last month, told ESPN's Mike Reiss that he's "done with football," even if Brady tries to talk him back onto the gridiron.
"I would answer, obviously, the greatest quarterback of all time,” Gronkowski said during an Ice Shaker Bottle event in Boston on Tuesday (July 12). “Ask him how he’s doing. Tell him I’m going good. But I wouldn’t go back to football — no," Gronkowski said.
Gronkowski's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, sparked speculation when he suggested that his client would have a difficult time saying no to Brady, his teammate for his entire NFL career with both the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which Gronkowski chalked up to the super agent loving to "see his players always be playing.
Last week, Gronkowski's former Bucs teammate Mike Evans told KPRC sports anchor Ari Alexander that he was hopeful for the slim chance to once again share the field with the legendary tight end, though he believes his retirement is for good this time.
“I hope he comes back. With Tom and Gronk, you never know,” Evans said. “I wouldn’t be mad if he came back. I’d actually be really excited if he came back, but I feel like he’s done. He plays the tight end position and he plays it max effort. Gives it his all, practices really hard, takes a lot of shots, blocks, runs after the catch. He takes a pretty big beating, I’ve seen his body after some of them games and I understand why.”
Evans called Gronkowski "the best tight end ever" and said it would be up to him and the rest of the Bucs' passing attack to pick up the slack should the tight end remain retired.
Gronkowski officially announced his retirement after 11 NFL seasons in a lengthy Instagram post on last month.
The four-time Super Bowl champion had previously retired in 2019 following his last Super Bowl victory as a member of the Patriots, before coming out of retirement the following offseason and rejoining Brady -- his teammate for his entire career -- after being traded to the Buccaneers days later.
Gronkowski ranks third all-time among NFL tight ends in career touchdown receptions (92), fifth in receiving yards (9,286) and 10th in receptions (621).