Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
Now he’s earned a fourth Super Bowl ring for his efforts.
Gronkowski is scheduled to become a free agent in March. Asked whether he’ll return in 2021, Gronkowski didn’t firmly commit to playing. But after saying he was “so done” following the Super Bowl LIII win over the Rams, he didn’t sound like a man eager to hang up his cleats for a second time.
“Yeah, I’ll remain unretired,” Gronkowski said in his postgame press conference. “I’m a free agent. It’s the first time in my career that I’m a free agent. I signed basically like an eight-year contract and basically played it all out — signed that when I was 22 years old. And it’s just pretty incredible to play out a contract like that — with a retirement in between. That’s surreal. But I definitely see myself coming back, just the guys around here, the players around here, the coaches, the people in the front office, they’re all just great people. I loved working with them all year long.
“So, obviously going to soak this in and see where I’m at in a couple weeks, but I don’t see why not. I don’t see why I won’t be back.”
Gronkowski, 31, played in all 16 regular-season games for the first time since 2011. He caught 45 passes for 623 yards with seven touchdowns in the regular season. Though he had just two receptions for 43 yards in the Buccaneers three playoff games, he led the club with six catches, 67 yards, and a pair of touchdowns in Super Bowl LV.