2019 Gronk Watch: Pulling Strings from a Shell

BigSoxFan

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Oh for sure, it is a fun fantasy. Chances are of course 1 in a million.
But my god, the first time Gronk is seen anywhere near Boston, let alone Foxboro, in the fall, this thread may surpass the Deflategate thread.
Just wait until he’s seen at a Logan rental car counter...
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Time to spend another two months "retired" and working his way further into game shape, then come back 11/4 as the bye week begins with an eye toward playing in the huge stretch of games that starts 11/17. Total cap hit should be around $5.1M.
 

InstaFace

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who will put money down on Gronk returning this season, so I can bet against them? What odds would I need to give?

"could easily see", yikes.
 

DJnVa

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Money shot:

“When that time comes, if I have the desire to play football again, if I feel passionate about football again … I will go back to football,” Gronkowski said, noting that could come in six months, two years, three years, or three months.
 

DJnVa

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So essentially he did all this to endorse a CBD oil brand
Well, it seems like he did it because he was in pain and when he retired he figured he could try out CBD--it "worked" and now he wants to promote it.
 

sodenj5

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Wonder if he would come back if the NFL changed its rules regarding marijuana and/or CBD.

Opioids are toxic as hell. The fact that the league is cool with its players becoming addicted to pain meds but won’t let them take CBD or smoke to ease pain or anxiety is extremely antiquated thinking.

Glad Gronk is feeling physically better. The game is violent and he played it physically. I personally hope he stays away from the game, having nothing to do with being a fan of a rival. He’s already made the smart decision for his life and longevity.
 

sodenj5

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Except *can* he take the product and return?
Not presently. I believe part of his press conference is to try and petition the league to change its drug policies related to, at least, CBD.
 

DJnVa

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Except *can* he take the product and return?
Well, it depends.

If you believe everyone that's ever passed an NFL drug test NEVER took a drug or if you believe that they can figure out the timing and pass the test. Eventually, stuff leaves your system.
 

InstaFace

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These odds out it safely in the “no bet” range for me although a friend still wants to hammer No, even at -1000.
Yeah, juice ain't worth the squeeze there. Lot of money to tie up for a 9% return half a year from now.

Now THAT's what I'm talking about. If he's saying he's 97% certain Gronk returns, I imagine we can find some odds that work for both of us...
 

BigSoxFan

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Poor Gronk.

Hey guys, here to talk about CBD...

Media: OMG he didn’t rule out playing again!
 

Cotillion

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The way he sounded in that conference it sounded like the last years were hell, and he didn’t like who he was becoming.

Either he is a much better actor than people think or the chances he is coming back are pretty minuscule.

Listen to the audio.
 

sodenj5

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The way he sounded in that conference it sounded like the last years were hell, and he didn’t like who he was becoming.

Either he is a much better actor than people think or the chances he is coming back are pretty minuscule.

Listen to the audio.
Dude had a liter of blood drained from his leg after the Super Bowl. That’s wild and stuff like this happens far more than we’ll ever know about.
 

Carmine Hose

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It's almost as if he has to come back to help pitch his CBD. Much like the TB12 method, if it can't get him back to playing football, it will be a hard sell as a product to the populace.
 

Red Averages

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You guys are insane if you think he has to come back to market a company... while talking about all the ridiculous injuries he just went through and how he finally feels like himself again. Maybe he does, but maybe we should take a giant step back and just appreciate that the guy that won us a Super Bowl, that we could all enjoy while watching the game from afar, wasn't able to sleep that night - not from enjoyment, but because he was crying in bed from the pain he was in. Look beyond the jersey.
 

DJnVa

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You guys are insane if you think he has to come back to market a company... while talking about all the ridiculous injuries he just went through and how he finally feels like himself again. Maybe he does, but maybe we should take a giant step back and just appreciate that the guy that won us a Super Bowl, that we could all enjoy while watching the game from afar, wasn't able to sleep that night - not from enjoyment, but because he was crying in bed from the pain he was in. Look beyond the jersey.
No one is saying he *has* to, just that what could be a better bump for the product.

It's not just message boarders saying that.
 

DJnVa

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"Almost". "If".

And I have tweets upthread with Pats beat writers saying the same type of thing.
 

RedOctober3829

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You guys are insane if you think he has to come back to market a company... while talking about all the ridiculous injuries he just went through and how he finally feels like himself again. Maybe he does, but maybe we should take a giant step back and just appreciate that the guy that won us a Super Bowl, that we could all enjoy while watching the game from afar, wasn't able to sleep that night - not from enjoyment, but because he was crying in bed from the pain he was in. Look beyond the jersey.
How much marketing pull does Gronk have outside the New England area?
 

dcmissle

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There is a problem with foreseeability. Everything is foreseeable and nothing is. That’s why judges invented proximate cause.

Showman Gronk likely to play with this until the weather gets cold.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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This really well written piece by Michael Hurley from CBS Boston about Gronkowski getting emotional about his struggles as well as sharing Rich Ohrnberger's Twitter thread strikes a different tone than the article posted above (remarkably both pieces are from the same organization).

Given the tone of Gronkowski's comments as well as the Luck announcement and the Andrews story, I think the bar for his return may have been raised. And I was in the camp that he was likely to return before. However, given his injuries and how they affected his mental state combined with an increasing awareness by the players of what they are doing to themselves long term, I am going the other way.

Gronk has made good money, won rings and is widely considered one of, if not the best ever to play his position. I get that he may miss certain aspects of playing football as well as being part of a team. However the cost of trying to get all that back seems really high and it is something Gronkowski appeared to acknowledge during his appearance.
 

joe dokes

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No one is saying he *has* to, just that what could be a better bump for the product.

It's not just message boarders saying that.
Despite his image, I think we all know that he's not some meathead idiot in desperate need of cash. A meathead idiot in desperate need of cash would come back to "bump" his product despite the toll on his body as recently as 7 months ago. A not-meathead idiot who most definitely is not desperate for cash would try to cash in on his still recognizable name and image, which are virtually synonymous with car-wreck like symptoms, and sell his product that way. I doubt he comes back. But if he does, it wont be to sell a product.
 

GoDa

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The way he sounded in that conference it sounded like the last years were hell, and he didn’t like who he was becoming.

Either he is a much better actor than people think or the chances he is coming back are pretty minuscule.

Listen to the audio.
To me he sounded like a guy that needed a break to get healthy/feeling good and back to being 110% himself. Didn't necessarily sound like a guy that wanted to be done with playing football.

NFL seasons as a NE Patriot are LONG.
 

streeter88

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This really well written piece by Michael Hurley from CBS Boston about Gronkowski getting emotional about his struggles as well as sharing Rich Ohrnberger's Twitter thread strikes a different tone than the article posted above (remarkably both pieces are from the same organization).

Given the tone of Gronkowski's comments as well as the Luck announcement and the Andrews story, I think the bar for his return may have been raised. And I was in the camp that he was likely to return before. However, given his injuries and how they affected his mental state combined with an increasing awareness by the players of what they are doing to themselves long term, I am going the other way.

Gronk has made good money, won rings and is widely considered one of, if not the best ever to play his position. I get that he may miss certain aspects of playing football as well as being part of a team. However the cost of trying to get all that back seems really high and it is something Gronkowski appeared to acknowledge during his appearance.
“Gronk I need you” - Julian Edelman.

How hard will it be to resist that call when it comes in October or November?

Wish him well, and after reading that article I actually hope he stays retired. He is irreplaceable, but the Patriots will find another way.
 

Reverend

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The League can’t be thrilled about Gronk discussing his departure from football in the language of “recovery.” Especially on the heels of Luck’s retirement.
 

SumnerH

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The league bans cbd? What the hell is the rationale for that?
The NFL bans all illegal drugs and all use of controlled/prescription drugs without a prescription, so they're inheriting that status from the government here: CBD is Schedule I (ACSCN 7350/7360) outside of Epidiolex which is Schedule V (approved only for childhood epilepsy), so it's pretty much illegal for anyone old enough to play in the NFL.

(There's a recent exemption for low concentrations in hemp products, but that's not approved for ingestion and refining/distilling such products remains illegal.)
 

OnWisc

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The League can’t be thrilled about Gronk discussing his departure from football in the language of “recovery.” Especially on the heels of Luck’s retirement.
I don't know- I imagine on some level they're aware that the shots they're taking aren't nearly as bad as they could be. Although perhaps they're worried that if tale after tale of retired players able to do little more than sit quietly in dark rooms won't generate wallet-impacting backlash, perhaps the growing disappearance of active players might push some new buttons in the fan base.

Or perhaps the owners are just a collection of reactionary fucks who really won't take anything seriously until the moment the first check shows up a little light.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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The NFL bans all illegal drugs and all use of controlled/prescription drugs without a prescription, so they're inheriting that status from the government here: CBD is Schedule I (ACSCN 7350/7360) outside of Epidiolex which is Schedule V (approved only for childhood epilepsy), so it's pretty much illegal for anyone old enough to play in the NFL.

(There's a recent exemption for low concentrations in hemp products, but that's not approved for ingestion and refining/distilling such products remains illegal.)
I'm sure Roger isn't interested in a fight with the government but it would be interesting to see the league try to lead the way on an issue like this. Probably more of an Adam Silver thing though.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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To me he sounded like a guy that needed a break to get healthy/feeling good and back to being 110% himself. Didn't necessarily sound like a guy that wanted to be done with playing football.

NFL seasons as a NE Patriot are LONG.
Hmmm.

Did you play the recording backwards to check for subliminal meanings?
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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The NFL bans all illegal drugs and all use of controlled/prescription drugs without a prescription, so they're inheriting that status from the government here: CBD is Schedule I (ACSCN 7350/7360) outside of Epidiolex which is Schedule V (approved only for childhood epilepsy), so it's pretty much illegal for anyone old enough to play in the NFL.

(There's a recent exemption for low concentrations in hemp products, but that's not approved for ingestion and refining/distilling such products remains illegal.)
Didn't it get moved to schedule 5 last yer, as long as it's under .1%? Or is that what you're referring to in the parentheses?
 

Reverend

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I don't know- I imagine on some level they're aware that the shots they're taking aren't nearly as bad as they could be. Although perhaps they're worried that if tale after tale of retired players able to do little more than sit quietly in dark rooms won't generate wallet-impacting backlash, perhaps the growing disappearance of active players might push some new buttons in the fan base.

Or perhaps the owners are just a collection of reactionary fucks who really won't take anything seriously until the moment the first check shows up a little light.
It occurred to me that I’d Gronk’s claims are true, then the league should welcome CBD treatment.

Then it occurred to me that I couldn’t think of a reason why the owners would actually care.
 

McBride11

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From what I understand it is legal, if extracted from hemp oil and contains <0.3% THC. Any more THC and it is marijuana.
Hence why everyone jumped into selling CBD. (I also believe a lot of CBD stores are biding their time until marijuana becomes more legalized.)
But there are also some issues with the purification process and some of the reports of actual content of the gummies / oils / etc.

But really there is some gray area it seems from what the farm bill 2018 legalized.

From a PBS article:
  • If CBD comes from a hemp plant with less than 0.3 percent THC, you can buy it under federal law — but some states still have legal restrictions on the possession of CBD.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/is-cbd-legal-heres-what-you-need-to-know-according-to-science
 

BornToRun

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“Gronk I need you” - Julian Edelman.

How hard will it be to resist that call when it comes in October or November?

Wish him well, and after reading that article I actually hope he stays retired. He is irreplaceable, but the Patriots will find another way.
Yeah I kind of feel the same way. Obviously I’d be thrilled if he came back but it seems like he’s given everything he had to give. He deserves to enjoy the rest of his life free from the mental and physical toll that football takes on a person. I really hope retirement is everything he wants it to be.