The 2020 NFL season was a dream come true for Rob Gronkowski. He decided to return to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers alongside Tom Brady, who played a major role in bringing the tight end out of retirement.
With the New England Patriots, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski paired up to create one of the most dominant quarterback-tight end combos in NFL history. They won three Super Bowls together before Gronk decided to retire in 2019.
But his first retirement didn’t last too long. For the 2020 season, Gronkowski returned to play for the Buccaneers with Tom Brady and of course the quarterback’s presence had a huge impact on his decision to play again.
Gronkowski gets real on how Tom Brady convinced him to come out of retirement
Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady have a very strong friendship. The tight end was one of the most important weapons for the quarterback during his whole career, so he wanted to take him anywhere he went in order to increase his chances of success.
When Brady decided to join the Buccaneers in 2020, the first person to come to his mind was Gronkowski. The tight end was already retired, but the quarterback made him return to football again.
“I actually told him ‘Yo, man, if you go to another team I’d be down to go with you. You go through the process, you pick whatever team. I know you man and you’re going to make the best business decision’,”Gronk said on the “New Heights” podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce.
“Then he went to the Buccaneers and I was like ‘The Buccaneers!? I don’t even know anything about them’,” the former tight end added. “No one knew anything about the Bucs. Tampa didn’t even know anything about the Bucs. But when he went there I just did my research and I was like ‘Man, this team is pretty epic actually’.”
In that season, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl LVagainst the Kansas City Chiefs and the move worked out pretty well for Brady and Gronk.