Retired New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski provided a solid answer today about his hypothetical return to the NFL. During a radio appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” he said he’s not coming back to the NFL this season.
Gronk has fielded questions about whether he might come out of retirement, and he has often left the door open for his return. He tried to do the same during his interview today and said he would have “to be feeling it” for multiple weeks in order to make a return. But he added that he’s not feeling it right now.
“I don’t have that itch,” he said.
Gronkowski announced his retirement on Instagram this past offseason and has made multiple media appearances to address his decision to end his NFL career at age 30. He has provided a few sobering accounts of what the game has done to him mentally and physically.
“I love all my fans. I love Patriots fans. I feel that love, but I want to be clear to my fans: I needed to recover. Football was bringing me down, and I didn’t like it,” Gronkowski told reporters in New York in August while beginning to cry. “I was losing the joy in life.”
To be eligible to play this season, Gronk would have to come off the reserve/retired list by Dec. 3, ahead of the Patriots’ game against the Chiefs in Week 14.
Since retiring from the league, he has picked up gigs as a promotional agent for a cannabidiol company while also making appearances as an NFL studio analyst on Fox Sports. Still, those new gigs haven’t prevented Patriots owner Robert Kraft — and fans in New England — from holding out hope that Gronkowski will change his mind on retirement.
And maybe Gronk will change his mind. But right now, it’s a no.
