Rob Gronkowski has had plenty of complaints about his time with the New England Patriots since he left the team in 2019, but it sounds like the former All-Pro tight end is still quite fond of the organization that helped make him a star.
Gronkowski was in the Boston area on Tuesday for the opening of the “Gronk Playground,” which is a renovation project near the Charles River that he pledged $1.8 million toward. Susan Hurley, a former Patriots cheerleader and the founder of CharityTeams, is one of the people who helped work on the project. While Gronkowski was addressing the crowd at the opening of the playground on Tuesday, Hurley urged him to sign a one-day contract with the Patriots so he can retire as a member of the organization.
Gronk said he plans to do that in part because it means so much to Hurley, who is battling Stage 4 cancer.
“I like that a lot. The reason we’re really going to do that is because of Susan Hurley. She wants to see that happen and has been dreaming about it happening for a while,” Gronkowski said, via SI.com’s Ethan Hurwitz. “RKK (Patriots owner Robert Kraft) gave her a thumbs up and we’re going to make it happen in the future. It’s going to be a special moment. Come back for a day, a weekend, whatever it is we’ll make it happen.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft was also in attendance, and he reportedly responded with a thumbs up.
Gronkowski spent the first four years of his career with the Patriots before retiring after the 2018 season. He then took a year off but came out of retirement to reunite with Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gronk won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and another with Brady in Tampa Bay.
Though Gronkowski and Bill Belichick are said to have butted heads at times, Gronk made the Pro Bowl five times as a Patriots. He is widely expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, and Belichick played a role in helping him become one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history.
Brady also had his issues with the Patriots toward the end of his tenure in New England, but he has since returned to be honored by the team in a number of different ways. It would hardly be a surprise if Gronk were to do the same at some point.
