Tom Brady Reacts to Rob Gronkowski Joining Fox Sports

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will be on everyone's television sets Thursday night. No, Gronk is not coming out of retirement to play for the New England Patriots, but he will be analyzing the team's upcoming game against the New York Giants as he makes his debut on Fox Sports. Brady was told news of this Tuesday and has since expressed high expectations for his former teammate.

"He'll be good," Brady said via NESN. "He's been pretty good at everything he's done. He's — yeah, I didn't know that. Good for him. Great opportunity."

Brady was then asked how long he thinks Gronkowski will last in his new role.

"I don't know," Brady said. "That's great. It's great to a lot of our guys get a lot of great opportunities like that."

Gronk will be joining Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, and Michael Strahan. The new role comes on the heels of him retiring from the league after the Patriots on the Super Bowl earlier this year.

"I'm extremely excited to be joining FOX Sports," Gronkowski said in a statement via New York Daily News. "For the past 25 years, they've offered viewers top-notch NFL programming from the field to the booth to the studio. Their deep talent roster is unmatched, which was important for me as I embark on this new chapter in my life because I'll be able to learn from the best in the business."

There are some people who believe that Gronk will be back in the NFL because he's only 29 years old. But when he was on the HBO TV series The Shop, Gronkowski revealed why he called it a career.

"It was about two years ago," he said. "It was a game-changer in my life where I was trying to go out to the practices during summer, and I was getting smoked by every rookie. And I felt in order to do something bigger in life, in order to get to a higher stage – because you're winning the Super Bowl — I felt like I had to get away from the game and focus on my health."

The Patriots are 5-0 on the season, so they are doing fine without one of the best tight ends in NFL history. But Brady would love to have Gronk back for at least one more year because of what he was able to do on the field, recording 79 touchdown receptions in nine seasons.