I'm really going to miss watching him play football. End of an era. As much fun as it would be for him to come back at some point, he's been through so many injuries. Fine with me if he just goes out like this as a champion.
I'll hold on to this sliver of hope. It will be obvious if this is in the cards by his work-out program. If he stays in shape and especially if he stays around Boston, I'd call it a lock. If he de-camps to LA, and opens the 'Yo Soy Fiesta' bar and grill, forget it.FWIW, his agent says he wouldn't be shocked if he returns late in season.
Drew Rosenhaus on @GetUpESPN on Rob Gronkowski’s future: “If the team was struggling or they needed him at some point next year, and let’s just say hypothetically Tom Brady gave him a call and said ‘Rob, I need you.’ I wouldn’t be shocked if he came back to play a few games.”
You might e depressed, but he's taking a breakNo.
Yo soy depresseda...
If you believe CurranAccording to Curran, Gronk ignored the Pats' request to make a retirement decision before free agency as an "eff you" to the Pats for underpaying him the last couple of years and trying to trade him. That kind of undermines the "Gronk will drop everything to come save the day for Tom" theory. At the very least, he's going to want A LOT of money for those games.
Why wouldn’t he wait until after the draft? Did he only want to screw them a little bit?According to Curran, Gronk ignored the Pats' request to make a retirement decision before free agency as an "eff you" to the Pats for underpaying him the last couple of years and trying to trade him. That kind of undermines the "Gronk will drop everything to come save the day for Tom" theory. At the very least, he's going to want A LOT of money for those games.
Huge hands help hold the hyde.He has the most amazing hands. If the ball is within his reach he will almost always catch it.
Presumably he just made the decision on his own timeline, instead of hurrying things up out of consideration for the team. Don’t know if that is true, of course, but that would seem to be the implication.Why wouldn’t he wait until after the draft? Did he only want to screw them a little bit?
It is a rare thing to see anyone so perfectly suited to a role, particularly one so... extreme and difficult.I’d also add that he laid a huge block on the ensuing 1 yard TD plunge to seal the game. Perfect player.
For all the periodic speculation, I think Gronk is smart enough to realize that he's never played pro football for anyone but Belichick and, frankly, might not enjoy it.According to Curran, Gronk ignored the Pats' request to make a retirement decision before free agency as an "eff you" to the Pats for underpaying him the last couple of years and trying to trade him. That kind of undermines the "Gronk will drop everything to come save the day for Tom" theory. At the very least, he's going to want A LOT of money for those games.
"Look guys, we gotta play better. Gronk is not walking through that doo--oh, hey Rob. OK, nevermind; let's just win this thing, 'kay?"As much as I would love for Gronk to return after Thanksgiving, some part of me worries about the David Ortiz / Le'Veon Bell effect of having that hang over a team for most of the year. The Pats are not the Steelers or the Red Sox, and of course BB is notorious for blocking out the noise, but I could see it having some impact of players having it in the back of their minds that he might be coming back.
I stopped reading Curran's piece closely when I saw what direction it was going but I thought it was kind of odd that Curran didn't even mention that the Patriots gifted Gronk the ability to earn an extra nearly $6 million in 2017 and that he earned every penny. This was a flat out gift. They couldn't really extend him given the talk about possible retirement and so they made it incentive based just like in 2018.If you believe Curran
Curran's speculation on the Quick Slants podcast is that losing out on Jared Cook led the Pats to push him harder to make a decision. Curran also says he would be unsurprised if Gronk comes back late in the year.Why wouldn’t he wait until after the draft? Did he only want to screw them a little bit?
So he retired when he did to screw the team he is super pissed at, but he'll totally come back to that team for a few games if needed? That sounds valid.Curran's speculation on the Quick Slants podcast is that losing out on Jared Cook led the Pats to push him harder to make a decision. Curran also says he would be unsurprised if Gronk comes back late in the year.
I realize I'm putting a lot of eggs in the "Tom Curran knows what he's talking about" basket. I feel like he's one of the rare local guys who actually uses the stuff he knows but can't write about to inform his speculation (especially on his podcast), but YMMV.
It is not necessarily invalid either. He does not want to play an entire season. The idea of coming back was related in a loyalty to Brady not the Pats organisation.So he retired when he did to screw the team he is super pissed at, but he'll totally come back to that team for a few games if needed? That sounds valid.
But enough about the neurological effects of CTE...No.
Yo soy depresseda...
Listening to Golic and Wingo this morning and they were not only adamant that Gronk would be first-ballot HOF, but that he was the greatest TE of all-time. A bit of talk about longevity favoring Gonzalez and Gates, but they discounted that as only a small part of one's consideration of GOAT.God damn I’m going to miss watching him play, but this is such a smart decision by him. Hopefully his body can recovered from what it has endured.
Pretty amazing that Gronk will go into the Hall of Fame before Tom Brady.
Terrell Davis too, right?Interesting trivia, -- assuming Gronk does indeed stay retired and end up first-ballot in 5 years, -- he will join only Jim Brown and Gale Sayers as HOFers who never played in their 30's.
I think they were limiting it to 1st ballot guys.Terrell Davis too, right?
ftfyGronk retiring, freeing up all kinds of cap space, allowing the Pats to make corresponding moves, only to have him return for the postseason run, of all the dramatic things I've seen, my goodness gracious, would be absolutely amazing. I don't see it happening but it would be great.
Thanks. Now I can’t not hear Suzyn Waldman’s voice in my head.ftfy
That drive is what first comes to mind for me, too, though it doesn't have one of his signature "drag three guys" crazy YAC runs. It's worth noting that they also ran behind Gronk on the TD run that capped that drive. He was an absolute monster.The first thing that I will remember his how he just destroyed Pittsburgh during their regular season meeting in 2017. That final Pats drive was the perfect example of what made Gronk the GOAT. He makes several catches; including balls over the middle where he gets absolutely whacked but keeps going and holds onto the ball. He makes a shoe-string catch and scoops the ball up an inch from the ground, an insane snag for someone so big. On the two-point conversion he makes a killer one-on-one move and pops right open for the easy grab. Then he points and laughs at the coverage and does a dopey dance. He had it all.
Now that this has set in, I think much of what I'll miss about Gronk is the amazing counterbalance he presented to Belichick and Brady. They come off as cold and calculating. He presented the fun-loving side. These are all stereotypes and the truth is that he was just as hard working as they. But part of the fun of this team in the last 9 years has definitely been the yin and yang. They are definitely yin, and Gronk was definitely yang. And it all worked so amazingly well.
As usual, Miguel has the answer (from BSJ): "If Gronk decides to unretire during the regular season his cap number would be $9 million divided by 17 times the number of weeks remaining in the season plus $46,875 times the remaining number of games. So let’s say Gronk unretires with nine weeks and nine games remaining in the season. His salary would then be $4,764,706 and his cap number would be $5,186,581."How would an Un-Retirement work?
Does he get a new contract? Does his old one kick in due to it not being a certain period of time?
Regardless he isnt coming back for peanuts. So the Pats would need to keep 3-5-7 Million ish in the vault so they can sign him at some point. Would BB and RK be ok with building a team with that chunk missing? What if another need pops up before he arrives?
As I said in another post one does not simply replace gronk expect the same production and keep everything else the same. We (IMH and usually wrong O) will need to become a schematically different offense. Does reintroducing Gronk at game 10 or 12 help us or hinder us as an offense going into the playoffs? How confident would BB be of Gronks effectiveness after a 10 game layoff and no training camp/preseason/practice.
So many questions and so much uncertainty. I cant see a reunion. BB wont allow it. And not because he is a Dick. Simply because it leaves the team with too much uncertainty.
Maybe a 2020 "I been away a year and miss it too much" comeback is in the cards. But Not a Game 12 "Good God thats Gronks Music" comeback.
From that article:From PFF, this article is basically Gronk porn (the football kind).
As you’d expect, Gronk’s performance from go routes, the vertical route down the field, was practically unparalleled during his time in the NFL, as he caught 71-of-122 go-route targets for 1851 yards, 23 scores, 69 plays of 15 or more yards
The moment he caught the ball in stride in any kind of space was like the moment Ray Allen received a perfectly thrown pass or the moment the puck arrived on mid-career Chara's stick at the point on a power play. Fly balls to JBJ with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs probably fit there, too. IIRC, in "Beyond the Sixth Game," Peter Gammons described this as "the moment before the moment."The thing I'll remember most about Gronk will be that uniquely exciting feeling he evoked during his physical prime when he caught a pass in space, and immediately the secondary turned from the hunters to the hunted as Gronk looked for someone to steamroll or throw out of the club.
It was like when Pac Man ate a power pellet and went after the ghosts.
Amazing. I'm going to miss watching him play so much.