BRADY REKINDLED GRONK’S PASSION FOR FOOTBALL
Bucs tight end ready to start bulking up after giving his body a much-needed rest
Wearing a white sweater and sitting next to a wall plastered with pictures in his New England home, a lean Rob Gronkowski admitted his hunger to make a football comeback started in earnest two months ago.
At the time, he was playing catch with a pal.
“We talked (about it) for one second,” Gronkowski said during the Zoom conference call with reporters on Wednesday. “It definitely got the fire under me.”
The friend, of course, was Tom Brady, then still property of the Patriots. And you know they talked about it for longer than a second.
“If the opportunity is right … if there’s a possible chance, I would definitely love to reconnect,” Gronkowski told Brady. “He was fired up and juiced up about it.”
The rest is Buccaneers history. Brady signed in Tampa Bay last month, and on Tuesday, he was joined by his favourite tight end. Of his request for the quickly consummated trade and his formal announcement that he was returning to the game after a one-year retirement, Gronkowski said: “Tom was like the appetizer for the whole meal.
“To build a connection with a quarterback is something special,” he said. “We have a great chemistry out there, and every time we get together, it’s like the old days at practice. It just happened to be the right opportunity. He got me hooked to the idea.”
Would he have un-retired had Brady decided to stay in New England? Gronkowski said he would have looked at the opportunity, but he was surely being diplomatic.
“Coach (Bill Belichick) says all the time, it’s not an easy game to play,” Gronkowski said.
The Patriots, under Belichick, are all about football, all about winning, all the time. In Tampa, when the world is right again, there will be plenty of distractions. The beaches, the sun, the fun, the parties.
“I’m very thankful for the nine years (in New England),” said Gronkowski. “I earned so much from the best coach of all time. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s an easy organization to play for, but it gets you right. It gets you mentally right and physically right. I’ve learned to block out the noise. That’s one thing I’m going to bring with me.”
As of Wednesday morning, right out of bed while still in his boxers, Gronkowski said he was carrying 250 pounds on his six-foot-six frame. His playing weight is 262 to 265.
“To put on 10 pounds, I think will be pretty easy,” he said of his plan to have a couple extra protein shakes with extra almond butter and extra blueberries each day.
“Just got to load it on.”
And tackle the challenge of getting ready to take the field again while recognizing it will be more difficult after being away from the game for a year.
“My body 100 per cent needed a rest,” said Gronkowski. “I knew I loved the game of football. I always have, but I had no fire last year to come back.
“That passion has lit into me.”
DRAFT DAYS
While only a rich man who wants to share his wealth would take the field against Joe Burrow in a bet on who the Cincinnati Bengals will take with the first pick of Thursday’s draft, odds makers have Oregon’s Justin Herbert as the more likely second quarterback picked ahead of Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
Hall of Famer Kurt Warner says the player who intrigues him most is Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, who he compares to Russell Wilson. That’s not bad, right? … Where will the best 32nd pick of all-time (I’m assuming) be watching the draft? “(Alabama WR) Jerry Jeudy invited me to go to his draft party,” 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson told reporters in a conference call this week. “So I might show up there.” Jeudy, who should be long gone before the Ravens pick at No. 28, must be very close to Jackson. Or he’s planning to have a bigger draft party than the recommended 10-or-less … While Jeudy is expected to go in the first round (as high as 11th in one mock draft), there was recent concern expressed about his left knee, which he injured in 2018. His doctor has sent letters to all 32 teams saying he can play “without limitations” from the twoyear-old injury … The Dolphins know they have to “hit a home run” this week with a plethora of picks (fifth, 18th, 26th and three more in the top 70). Seems impossible for them to strike out.