Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski made waves on Tuesday morning when he publicly hinted at a potential return to football. Things turned emotional during Gronk’s promotional presser, and he gave some further insight into his decision to retire and what might draw him back to the NFL. 
Here’s a look at some of the highlights, via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss.
On his physical condition:
“Physically, I could play right now.”
On why he retired:
“I want to be clear to my fans. I needed to recover. I was not in a good place. Football was bringing me down, and I didn’t like it. I was losing that joy in life.”
On when he knew he would retire:
“I got done with [Super Bowl LIII] and I could barely walk. I slept five minutes that night. I couldn’t even think. I was in tears in my bed after a Super Bowl victory. It didn’t make that much sense to me. And then, for four weeks, I couldn’t even sleep for more than 20 minutes a night. I was like, ‘Damn, this sucks.’ It didn’t feel good. It was one of the biggest, deepest thigh bruises I’ve ever gotten.”
On the thought process behind his retirement:
“It’s a purpose to have passion in my life, to have joy in my life. And then to inspire optimal health within myself, I need to do that in order to get to a peak and then I can bring it to other people. Because I know [in] the NFL, players are dealing with that kind of stuff, they’re dealing with pain. I was. And I needed to walk away because I needed to do what was best for myself.”
Did I miss the part about a possible return?
I must have missed it too. If anything, this was him reassuring everyone he was done.
I heard what Gronk said this morning on the radio… He said that when he is out and about, the first thing fans ask him is when he is coming back. It breaks his heart to know he has so much love from fans, so it bums him out to have to tell them he “ain’t coming back”.
Thats the ” possible return” reference.
Rather odd that Gronk gets no grief for retiring young but Andrew Luck gets boo’d off the field.
Gronk played longer. And won things. Luck tried to retire as a conquering hero without even a runner up trophy to his name.
And also gave the team time to plan instead of quitting a week before the season starts
He wasn’t healthy enough to play so Jacoby would be playing anyways
Exactly. And Colts kept acting like Luck would be back by Week 1.
Are you not allowed to feel pain if you haven’t won a super bowl?
Wins are a TEAM accomplishment !
The Patriots and Colts have very different fan bases. One is intelligent, and the other cheers for the Colts.
Yeah, the Patsies have one intelligent fan. It isn’t you.
If Brady decided to hang it up 2 weeks before the opening game and leaving the team in the hands of Jacoby Brissett and no time to find anyone better, fans would not necessarily take it well in the New England area either.
But they wouldn’t boo Brady, either. Of course, Brady has played like 20 years and has brought a couple of rings to Boston.
I wouldn’t have boo’d Luck, if I were a Colts fan, but I can see how some would. Some people take football a bit to seriously.
Tom Brady could defecate on the 50yd line at the next Superbowl and walk off into retirement with a standing ovation
Plus they would still pay him and claim he was innocent as well!
I don’t see Gronk coming back.
How do you get through life without sleep? Become an announcer or sideline reporter like Tony Siragusa and have some fun
I’d love it if Gronk was a sideline reporter and had the freedom to just be Gronk, instead of trying to be a cookie-cutter super slick announcer. Siragusa was always fun in that way!
I Havnt slept more than 2 hours in a row for over 10 years because of pain! Believe me, it takes a toll on your body and mind!
What if Andrew Luck was trying to make a comeback, working as hard as he could in the rehab process till last week and then his body gave in; unable to continue physically. Still because its right before the season, he should get boo’ed?
Fuck all those Colt fans who boo’ed Luck.
He’ll be back. Needed time to recover. Then recovered. Will be back by week 10 to go make another run.
He’ll un-retire when the league allows… “I’m here to appeal to the sports governing bodies to update their positions on CBD (so it can be) used by all players. … For the first time in a decade, I’m pain-free.”