Rob Gronkowski won't completely rule out an NFL comeback. But when he called Bill Belichick back in March, he had his mind firmly made up that he was done playing football.
That's according to the retired New England Patriots tight end himself, as Gronkowski recounted to The Athletic's Jeff Howe his March 24 phone conversation with Belichick telling his coach he was retiring.
"It was final,” Gronkowski told Howe on Friday. "We didn't even speak of anything like (a comeback). He just thanked me. I thanked him for everything. I gave him a call before I even made the announcement, just thanked him and (Patriots owner) Mr. (Robert) Kraft for giving me the opportunity that they have given me."
Gronkowski stressed at a press conference Tuesday he's physically capable of playing "right now" if he wanted to, a point he reiterated to Howe.
"I'm actually in better shape than I was in (2018) already right now," Gronk told Howe.
But the 30-year-old also spoke at length about how injuries and constant pain sapped his will to keep playing and described some disturbing details about his experience with head trauma over nine NFL seasons.
New England Patriots
Gronkowski is now moving ahead as "Mr. Recovery," promoting the use of Cannabidiol for pain relief in a partnership with CBDMedic. And unless he gets a burning desire to return that outweighs the risks of further injury, it appears he has no plans of a comeback.
In any case, his head coach isn't banking on it.
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