Rob Gronkowski reveals how bad Super Bowl injury was

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At yesterday’s event promoting CBD products, former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski admitted he was “not in a good place” because of his injuries.

But the more he talked about his leg injury in the Super Bowl, you wonder how he was able to continue at all.

Via Darren Hartwell of the NBCSportsBoston.com, Gronkowski went into detail — sometimes gruesome detail — about the quadriceps injury.

“I got done with the game, I could barely walk,” Gronkowski said. “I go to the after party, I sit down and I’m just chilling all day, like the rest of the night until 3 a.m. I try to go to bed, I slept for five minutes that night. I couldn’t even think.

I was in tears, in my bed, after a Super Bowl victory. It didn’t make that much sense to me. And then, for four weeks, I couldn’t even sleep for more than 20 minutes a night after a Super Bowl win. And I was like, ‘Damn, this sucks.’ ”

Over the next four weeks, he was a regular in doctor’s offices.

“I had internal bleeding,” he said. “I took out 200 milliliters of blood four weeks later, and then another week later . . . I took out 500 milliliters of blood, and then I took out 300 more milliliters of blood from my quad.

“So, that’s a total of 1,000 milliliters (one liter) I took out of my quad over a four-week period after the Super Bowl. It’s not normal.”

He joked that it was “record-breaking” how much blood they took out of him, but what was clearly broken was his body, which led him to retire at 29.

29 responses to “Rob Gronkowski reveals how bad Super Bowl injury was

  1. Sadly this is all too commom and I expect the trend to continue. At least he has been very smart with his money and is set for life. He’s young enough and in good enough health tha he can actually enjoy it.

  2. I don’t understand Gronkowski’s mentality, he explains that his body took a beating when he played & he was not in a good place as he was suffering in pain, he could only sleep 20 minutes a night for 4 straight weeks, also he had to get all this blood drained from his quad.
    Then he goes on to say that he might come back and play after he has gone through all this hell….he’s not a very smart man.

  3. He was allowed to keep playing because they bend the rules for the patriots all the time.

    I remember that one super bowl a few Seahawks like Avril could not play with concussions but Julie Edelman was allowed to.

    Regardless, history corrected itself and Barry church took pedkowskis soul with a beauty of a hit.

  4. You made the right decision for yourself, Gronk, but thank god you were responsible enough to make this decision early in the offseason instead of waiting for a week before the season starts. As much as I loved you as a player, I don’t think I could stomache hearing people call you “courageous” over and over to cover for a grossly irresponsible last minute retirement.

  5. This.
    We need more of this kind of “gruesome” detail to understand exactly what the players go through.
    Having this stuff come out is an owners worst nightmare, and a big blow to their “more money 18 game schedule” stupidity.

  6. Very smart on his part. He didn’t fall into the trap of blowing his money like so many of these guys do, so no reason to keep punishing his body any further. I always liked Gronk even though the Steelers had no answer for him far more times than not. Lol

  7. I can’t help but to remember that Junior Seau’s biggest problem off the field seemed to be that he couldn’t sleep. Then he got addicted and then immune to sleep aids. You can’t heal without the rest. Rest and healing go hand in hand.

    Get well Gronk.

  8. GRONK, IF he decides he wants to come back THIS YEAR, has until The Tuesday after week 13 to unretire…. he can’t come back THIS YEAR AFTER THAT DATE & can come back ANYTIME BEFORE THAT DATE…….
    Sooooo, he could come back late in the season, bypass much of the ware & tare on his body & play a minimal amount ( & probably get a bye week off too) & play for another Lombardi & full that VOID/ITCH to play his favorite game with his buds…… possible for sure…. guess time will tell…. wish him the best no matter what he decides!!!
    Go Pats!!!!

  9. Oh I get it, so Nguyen is an absolute dunce. Yeah, so irresponsible to be a bit indecisive with a life-altering decision like retirement. Such a pathetic line of thinking.

  10. I wonder if the doctors spiked the liter of blood when they were finished? That would have been fitting.

  11. “He was allowed to keep playing because they bend the rules for the patriots all the time.

    I remember that one super bowl a few Seahawks like Avril could not play with concussions but Julie Edelman was allowed to.”

    What a sad little comment. Players are only pulled for concussions, they can continue to play with leg injuries if they want to.

    And no, Edelman did not have a concussion, he had a leg injury as well.

    You guys complain about the Pats and then lie all the time in your comments SMH

  12. …….Regardless, history corrected itself and Barry church took pedkowskis soul with a beauty of a hit.
    ………..

    And FYI, it was an illegal hit to the head…..but feel free to applaud.

  13. He is one tough hombre. A legend, really. As big as he was as a player and how much power he generated, he took on a lot of dirty and cheap hits through the years. This is why he snapped on TreDavious White. The guy was mauling him all game with bush league garbage and the blatant PI/tackling of Gronk sent him over the edge.

  14. Gronk tormented the Bills his whole career, but his hometown is Williamsville N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo and he is celebrated here, best NFL player to come from Buffalo. Great career and I’m happy he retired for his own bodies sake, as well as his mental state. Also glad we don’t have to see him twice a year, I’m sure Tre’Davious White agrees.

  15. Hearing what he was going through, and what Luck was experiencing with conic pain; it’s no wonder so many of these guys end up drinking and/or on pills to cope.

  16. Under current rules, coming back would mean giving up the CBD that he claims has helped him so much. Why bother? Wait for the league to get its head out of its butt on this stuff.

  17. Gronk couldn’t be wrapped up so launching at him, particularly his lower body, became standard practice. It’s a shame that he had to endure so many rough hits.

  18. Very refreshing how candid Gronk has been about his injuries. It’s so easy, to criticize these guys week in and week out but we honestly don’t know what their bodies are going through. Gronk, much like Luck don’t have anything else to prove. There is life outside of football and they deserve to live it as they see fit.

  19. vancouversportsbro says:
    August 28, 2019 at 8:14 am
    He was allowed to keep playing because they bend the rules for the patriots all the time.

    I remember that one super bowl a few Seahawks like Avril could not play with concussions but Julie Edelman was allowed to.

    Regardless, history corrected itself and Barry church took pedkowskis soul with a beauty of a hit.

    ————

    Using concussion protocol as a playing advantage is basically cheating. If players are cleared to play in a game, that’s what everyone should want.

    Lets not forget when the Jags took out Gronk in the AFCCG and he was stuck in the protocol. Brady still beat them anyway.

  20. stucats says:
    August 28, 2019 at 8:13 am
    I don’t understand Gronkowski’s mentality, he explains that his body took a beating when he played & he was not in a good place as he was suffering in pain, he could only sleep 20 minutes a night for 4 straight weeks, also he had to get all this blood drained from his quad.
    Then he goes on to say that he might come back and play after he has gone through all this hell….he’s not a very smart man.

    ————

    Is it really that hard to understand that he’s conflicted? As a player he’s a household name, on TV every week, in the locker room with the guys, running past top athletes and spiking in the endzone, winning Super Bowls with fabulous catches and making many millions of dollars.

    Walking away from that is hard despite the pain he has endured.

  21. steelpenguin6687 says:
    August 28, 2019 at 8:23 am
    Very smart on his part. He didn’t fall into the trap of blowing his money like so many of these guys do, so no reason to keep punishing his body any further. I always liked Gronk even though the Steelers had no answer for him far more times than not. Lol
    ————
    And yet, after sitting out a year he will consider returning for what? More money…

  22. Anyone who gets mad at these dudes for retiring early should have to take one hit, in pads, from an NFL starting linebacker. If you get up you can go on with your complaining.

  23. He has been very frugal with his money so that isn’t an issue. He is set for life if he doesn’t go crazy, but I doubt he will do that. I believe 90% of this is mental. It is amazing how much that will change after 1-2 years out of the league.Once his body has fully recovered that fire just might start burning again to play. We will see next year if Brady comes back for another year, the chance of catching a few from Brady for the last time brings him back.

  24. I don’t doubt any of what he’s saying. But the part that is irksome, from the perspective of the Patriots and their fans, is he knew he was done. He is saying the decision to retire was on his mind for a while. The super bowl happened, he got that brutal leg shot, and he knew it was over. So he gave it everything he had, and his catch set up the TD that sealed the game. But if he knew in Feb that he was done, why did he string the Pats along for months. They didn’t draft a tight end, they missed out on every free agent tight end (and some of the reason given was that these free agents didn’t want to sign and then have Gronk come back and push them to the bench). Then when the pats had no options, he retires… I love Gronk, but that is coming back to haunt the pats and the season hasn’t even started yet

  25. Will This Get Published? Not Likely says:
    August 28, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    I don’t doubt any of what he’s saying. But the part that is irksome, from the perspective of the Patriots and their fans, is he knew he was done. He is saying the decision to retire was on his mind for a while. The super bowl happened, he got that brutal leg shot, and he knew it was over. So he gave it everything he had, and his catch set up the TD that sealed the game. But if he knew in Feb that he was done, why did he string the Pats along for months. They didn’t draft a tight end, they missed out on every free agent tight end (and some of the reason given was that these free agents didn’t want to sign and then have Gronk come back and push them to the bench). Then when the pats had no options, he retires… I love Gronk, but that is coming back to haunt the pats and the season hasn’t even started yet

    ————————————————————————-
    He retired near the end of March. Free Agency was not even three weeks old, and the draft was still a month away at the time. Almost guarantee he told Bill before that, and Bill asked him to take some time, and make sure that this was what he wanted. Regardless, your take is wrong. I appreciate everything he has given us, and if he had of retired today, I would still wish him well. That man has literally broken himself for this team. Perspective?

  26. I have been a Pats’ fan since 1971, and I love Gronk, but I sure hope he does not come back. I want him to heal, and stay as healthy as he can. I was not a football player, but I was an athlete, and I am feeling all those years of sports as I approach 60.

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