Buccaneers Tight End Rob Gronkowski Says He Will Retire, Again

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end and Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski announced Tuesday that he will retire from the NFL for the second time. The former New England Patriot also briefly left the NFL three years ago, before coming out of retirement to join quarterback Tom Brady and the Florida team.

"I will now be going back to my retirement home, walking away with my head held high knowing I have it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field," he wrote in a statement on Twitter Tuesday. "The friendships and relationships I have made will last forever, and I appreciate every single one of my teammates and coaches for giving everything they had as well."

In his post, Gronkowski shared that in college, he was asked to write about his dream job. He said he chose a professional football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers "for many reasons, the sunny weather being #1."

"I completely forgot about writing this report until 2 years ago when I had the opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," he said. "And let me tell ya, the journey in Tampa over the last 2 years has blown away what I originally wrote about in college, big time."

Gronkowski wrote about returning from his retirement in 2019 to join the team, and winning the Super Bowl that year. He thanked the organization "for an amazing ride, trusting me to come back to play and help build a championship team."

He concluded with: "Cheers to what's next, maybe sailing the seas. Arghhhhhh!!"