The story of how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became Super Bowl 55 champions is one for the ages.
On top of Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots after 20 seasons to start a new chapter with the Bucs, ex-Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski ended his retirement to reunite with his quarterback down in Tampa. That decision resulted in Brady's seventh Super Bowl title and Gronk's fourth.
Where Brady stands in Super Bowl history after Bucs win
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After the 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, Gronkowski opened up about how Brady convinced him to unretire last spring and join him on the Bucs.
"It was kind of a series of conversations. It wasn't anything like, 'Hey Rob I want you to come back, come to Tampa with me.' It was over a little bit of time. A couple conversations," Gronkowski said.
"[Brady] hit me up and was like, 'Would you come down?' And I was like, 'I've been waiting for you. I've been waiting for you to make a move.' It's just been over a series of just talks. It's just an unbelievable story. There's a lot more conversations that went down but we're just going to keep them between us.
Gronkowski ended up with six catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns in Super Bowl 55. Nearly a year after choosing to give football another shot, the 31-year-old is on cloud nine.
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"Overall, just coming down to Tampa Bay, just coming into this organization, they were an organization ready to win," Gronkowski said. "The players here were ready to win, and just to come in and be a small part of it and play my role was just amazing. Just to come here and have situation like this with so many players and be Super Bowl 55 champs is just unreal. It's surreal, man."
It looks like Brady and Gronk won't be going anywhere, either. After the 43-year-old QB declared he and the Bucs are "coming back" for another run in 2021, Gronkowski announced he plans to play next season.
Gronkowski will be a free agent for the first time in his NFL career.