Rob Gronkowski is now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it looked like it was a very fast process. However, Gronk’s return to the NFL likely began earlier this year. The star tight end talked to reporters on Wednesday, and he said he threw a football around with Tom Brady in February before he signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was when Gronkowski told Brady is was interested and making a comeback and reuniting with him.
“I said if there’s a right opportunity out there, and you go somewhere, and the opportunity is right, even if you go back to the Patriots … there’s a possible chance I would definitely love to reconnect,” Gronkowski said, per USA Today. And when talking about Brady, Gronkowski stated: “Playing with Tom is special. He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. To build a connection with a quarterback, too, is something special. You’ve seen it many times with many other players – they can switch teams, and they might not have the same chemistry as they had with one of their other quarterbacks. We have great chemistry out there, and every time we get together, it’s just like the old days.”
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Gronk is excited about his new NFL team, but he will also miss his time in New England. He praised Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft. However, while he loved his time in New England: Kraft also said: “The New England Patriots, hands down, it is not the easiest place to play, but it gets you right. What I’ve learned there, I’m definitely going to take it with me.”
Brady hasn’t publically made any comments on the Bucs adding Gronk, but he reacted to the news on Twitter by making a video with Gronk that pays homage to the film Anchorman. Brady has thrown 541 touchdown passes in his career, and 78 of those touchdowns have gone to Gronk. No other player has caught more touchdowns passes from Brady than Gronk. In fact, Randy Moss is second on the list with only 39.
Along with winning three Super Bowls, Gronkowski was named to the Pro Bowl five times, and he was selected to the All-Pro First Team four times. And like Brady, Gronkowski was voted into the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
