It’s been all but confirmed that Tom Brady played a key role in Rob Gronkowski coming out of retirement to join him on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
During an appearance on late-night television this week, Gronkowski jokingly re-enacted how his longtime teammate was practically “crying” on a recruitment phone call.
The charismatic tight end joined Thursday’s virtual edition of “The Late Late Show With James Corden” and shared how Brady convinced him to come to Tampa. It goes without saying that Gronk presumably took significant dramatic license while reenacting their chat.
“All of a sudden he screams on the phone, ‘Rob, I just want you to come back and play with me!’ And I was like, ‘Oh alright, alright. I’ll come back then, Tom. No problem,’” Gronk said. “He was crying like, ‘Oh my God. Please come back.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, you just missed me that much.’ So I had to come back.”
The conversation with Brady probably didn’t go anything like the way Gronk portrayed it, but there’s no doubt that bringing in the four-time First-Team All-Pro was a boon for the Bucs offense.
While there is some skepticism over how rusty Gronkowski could be following a one-year layoff, it’s clear he’s putting in all the work needed to get back into playing shape. That effort is part of the reason why Gronkowski is considered the favorite to win one of the NFL’s season awards.
What’s more, it sounds like Gronkowski is already doing a bang-up job of fitting in with his fellow Bucs tight ends. In other words, a year may have passed since he last played, but Gronk is still quintessentially Gronk-ian.
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