DESPITE LITANY OF PAINFUL INJURIES, GRONK WON’T RULE OUT COMEBACK
Future Hall of Famer’s body has healed and he says he’s keeping his options open
First, understand that Rob Gronkowski misses being around an NFL team more than playing on an NFL team, more than practising with an NFL team, and by God, a heck of a lot more than managing pain and injuries over a long, gruelling season with an NFL team.
The former superstar tight end with the New England Patriots called it a career this past off-season, because the cons of the latter outshone the pros of the former.
“Gronk” suffered a long list of serious injuries from 201018, several of which required surgeries, including a fractured and re-fractured forearm (2012), a fractured back vertebrae (2013), torn ACL and MCL (2013) and a back vertebral disc hernia (2016). He also suffered a bruised lung (2016), plus just last year, endured back and ankle injuries last year, plus his second career diagnosed concussion.
In all, the 30-year-old missed 29 of 144 regular-season games, plus the entire 2013 and 2016 playoffs.
In an interview at a Toronto hotel on Thursday — during a stop to promote an over-thecounter cannabidiol (CBD) pain-management product called CBD MEDIC, which he endorses and partly owns — Gronkowski couldn’t bring himself to rule out a return to his beloved Patriots even this year, let alone next year or even four years from now.
The closer the questions got to pro football and the prospect of maybe returning to play, the more uncomfortable Gronk seemed to get. For instance, he disclosed where he still occasionally plays football catch — at the facility near the Patriots’ stadium that iconic New England quarterback Tom Brady partly owns and works out in — but he wouldn’t answer who throws him passes.
For most of nine seasons, Gronkowski transformed the tight end position and is universally considered a slam dunk future Hall of Famer. The thing is, he can’t be eligible for Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration until five years have passed since his last game. As of now, that counter is a couple days shy of nine months.
Here are highlights from the interview:
Q What do you miss most about playing pro football?
A GRONK: “I miss being around the locker-room, having that family, fighting for each other. The camaraderie that you have with 53 players in the locker-room, busting on each other in the locker-room, then going out and fighting for one another out on the field. Cracking jokes, being around the guys, being around a family like that, and you’re all fighting for one goal, too.”
Q Any parts of your body feel healthier now that you’re away from football? Because you haven’t had this much time off from football — excluding injury recovery time — since you were a kid. Have you noticed parts of your body that feel better than they have in years? Your back? Your arm?
GRONK: “Oh yeah, everything feels great. But I’ve also been taking good care of myself. You’re just not going to heal by just taking totally off (physical exercise). Yeah, your body can heal to a degree, but also you want to train it so it’s able to heal. You want to put the right nutrients into your body so your body can heal. You want to do the right exercises so your body can heal. And also, at the same time, I’m not taking the pounding and then trying to heal right away for the next game. So it’s cool just have the mind at ease, let the body heal, and let the body do its job and feed it with the right workouts and the right nutrition.”
Q What percentage would you put on it that you’re retired for good?
GRONK: “(Laughs). Well, you know, that’s one thing I always learned from (Patriots) Coach (Bill Belichick) is that you never put a percentage on it. I’m not lying! There are things I always take, because I’ve always learned a lot from him. You can’t put a percentage on things because things always change. But I mean, I’m very happy where I’m at.”
Q Would you ever come back during a season, or if you did come back, would you want to be there with everybody from the beginning, like in May? GRONK: “No, no that’s no big deal for me. If it’s May onward, or if it’s just stepping right in. Last year I wasn’t even there for most of the off-season. I’ve been there a while, so I know the playbook. You know? I’m just very happy with where I’m at, for sure. And um … you know … it’s uh ….
Q Think you might do it this year?
GRONK: “Do I think I might do it this year? I, uh, you know … Let’s put it this way: I just really haven’t thought about it. Like I said, I love that I have the option, but I haven’t thought about going back at all. I’m really busy with what I have going on. I have a lot going on. I don’t really see myself (returning to the Pats) at all. But it’s always just good, like I said, to have the option. If it’s this year, next year, or even in four years, I feel like it’s just great to have (the option).”