Rob Gronkowski is calling it a career after 11 NFL seasons. The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end announced his retirement Tuesday in a lengthy Instagram post.
Gronkowski, 33, will go down as arguably the greatest tight end in NFL history. The four-time Super Bowl champion has set a number of regular season and playoff records during his time as Tom Brady's favorite target.
Of course, we can't ignore the possibility of Gronk coming out of retirement again. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, already hinted at the possibility. Until then, here's a look at the records the future Hall of Famer has broken during his career.
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Rob Gronkowski single-game records
- Youngest player with three or more touchdown receptions in a game (21 years, 180 days; 2010 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers)
Rob Gronkowski single-season records
- Most touchdown receptions by a tight end: 17 (2011)
- First tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns (2011)
Rob Gronkowski career records
- Most offensive touchdowns in first two seasons: 28 (tied with Randy Moss)
- Most 100-yard games by a tight end (32)
- Most career touchdowns per game average among tight ends: 0.69
- Most seasons with 10 or more touchdowns by a tight end: 5 (2010-12, 2014-15)
- Most career average receiving yards per game among tight ends: 68.3
- First tight end to have three seasons with 10+ touchdowns and 1,000+ receiving yards (2011, 2014–15)
- Consecutive seasons with 10 or more touchdowns by a tight end: 3 (2010–2012)
Rob Gronkowski playoff records
- Most receptions by a tight end in Super Bowl history: 23
- Most receiving yards by a tight end in Super Bowl history: 297
- Most career postseason receiving touchdowns by a tight end: 15
- Most career postseason receiving touchdowns between a quarterback and receiver: 15 (with Tom Brady)
- First tight end with 1,000+ career postseason receiving yards
- Most career postseason receiving yards by a tight end: 1,163
- Youngest player with three touchdown receptions in a game: 22 years, 275 days (2011 vs. Denver Broncos)
Rob Gronkowski Patriots records
- Most touchdown receptions: 79
- Most games with multiple touchdowns: 16
- Most games with 100+ receiving yards by a tight end: 26
- Highest receiving yards per game average for a tight end (season): 82.9 (2011)
Accolades
- Four-time Super Bowl champion (XLIX, LI, LIII, LV)
- NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2014)
- Four-time First-team All-Pro (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017)
- Five-time Pro Bowl (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017)
- NFL 2010's All-Decade Team
- NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team