Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement on Friday night, sort of.
Via MassLive.com, Gronk showed up at a Luke Bryan concert at Gillette Stadium. Roughly halfway through the two-hour show, Bryan told the crowd that “someone who wanted to come out and say hello.”
And Gronk appeared on stage.
Per the report, Gronk was “visibly moved” by the “deafening roar” from the fans.
WCVB.com has a fan-shot video from the visit, which included Gronk autographing a Gronkowski jersey that Bryan was wearing, Bryan removing the jersey and telling Gronk to return the signed version back to the fan who had given it to Bryan, Gronk doing a shot with Bryan, and Gronk spiking the glass (which apparently/hopefully wasn’t glass).
Bryan then persuaded Gronkowski to run a pass route on the stage. Bryan overthrew Gronk on the first try, but they connected on the second.
“I can now say I completed a pass to Gronk in Gillette Stadium,” Bryan said. “How cool is that?”
Unless Gronk plans to catch a pass from Mick Jagger on July 7 or George Strait on August 17, that will be the last pass Gronk catches at Gillette Stadium this year. Unless that “deafening roar” helps persuade Gronk to unretire.
