In a previous life, the Bucs’ private Super Bowl after-party at the Florida Aquarium and viral celebratory boat parade would represent mere preludes to Rob Gronkowski’s offseason revelry.
“Back in the day, when I was young 20s, I would extend the celebration probably for like a month or two,” the eventual Canton-bound tight end said Monday. “I wouldn’t even know what’s going on in the world. But you live and learn. I’m in my 30s now, so that (party and parade) was enough for me.”
Devoid of any Super Bowl hangover — figurative or otherwise — this time around, Gronkowski indicated he’s ready to play another full season.
As in today.
“I feel like I could play another full season right now if we started,” said Gronkowski, whose signature on another one-year deal with Tampa Bay formally was announced by the club Monday.
“Everything that I’ve changed throughout my career is definitely paying off, and it feels great. ... I feel light, I feel flexible, I feel I can go out and just play some football. Just go out and not be thinking and just play football and run routes and do what I’ve got to do out there on the field.”
Terms of Gronkowski’s latest one-year deal weren’t announced, but it’s widely reported to be an $8 million contract (a $4 million base salary with a $4 million signing bonus) that can reach $10 million if various incentives are met. The deal includes four voidable years so the signing bonus can be spread over five years, easing the team’s salary-cap burden in 2021.
On Monday, Gronkowski — a free agent for the first time ever once the Super Bowl ended — acknowledged receiving some overtures from his hometown Bills (he was raised in upstate New York), but said “everything just fell into place right away” in terms of signing on with the Bucs for a second year.
“There were a couple of other teams also,” he said. “But just overall, I wanted to be back with the Buccaneers organization. The setup here is just unbelievable, just the chemistry that I felt over the last season is just fantastic.”
Coming off a one-year retirement, Gronkowski surprised many by starting all 16 regular-season games in 2020, finishing with 45 catches for 623 yards and seven touchdowns. In the playoffs, he mostly brandished his blocking chops in max-protection alignments but had two TD receptions in Super Bowl 55.
He hasn’t played every regular-season game in consecutive seasons since his first two years in the league (2010 and 2011), but he was younger then.
Not to mention wilder.
“This year, just playing all 20 games, all 16 regular-season games, not missing a practice ... was just a great feeling,” said Gronkowski, who turns 32 in May.
“It was just something I wanted to prove to myself, too, that I could do. Prove to myself that the things I’ve learned and that I’ve taken in and that I’ve changed, that I can play a full season and I can play a full postseason at a high level, too. So it was just great overall to complete that mission, and now I feel like I can do it again, too.”
