Throughout their 11 seasons together, Rob Gronkowski became one of Tom Brady's key targets on the football field, first on the Patriots and then on the Buccaneers.
The duo became quite close friends off the field, as well. They even appeared in commercials together. When Gronkowski retired during the 2019 season, Brady played a big part in convincing the tight end to return to the NFL, but this time with Brady's new team, the Buccaneers. The pair won four Super Bowls together (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
Following Brady's retirement announcement on Tuesday, Gronkowski took to Instagram on Wednesday to say thanks to his quarterback and congratulate him on his retirement.
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Gronkowski posted a video montage of highlights from their relationship on the field and their friendship off the field. The song "You're My Best Friend" by Queen is dubbed throughout the video.
Gronkowski, or "Gronky" as he refers himself as in the caption, quickly thanks Brady for his leadership and passion throughout their time together. In 22-year career, Brady won seven Super Bowls, which is more than any NFL team, and appeared in 10 overall.
"Thank you for your dedication to the game, putting the team in the best possible position to win every year, all the records that were broken, the Super Bowls, the memories, and your friendship through the last 12 years," Gronkowski's caption read.
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Will Gronk Retire?
Now eyes shift to Gronkowski as fans await if the 32-year-old Buccaneers tight end makes his own retirement announcement soon or not.
The Buccaneers are not ruling out Rob Gronkowski's return despite Tom Brady retiring.
"I'm giving Rob the respect to give him some time to see how he feels here in the next coming of weeks after a long, grueling season," Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said Tuesday. "When you played in the league for 11 years, you need a little time to think things through to see if you want to go through with it for another year. From my conversations with Rob, he just needs that. I don't think it's going to be dependent on whether Tom came back or not from what I understand, and I know that Rob had an incredible experience here as well. He was a big factor in us having the success that we had. We would welcome Rob back with open arms, but we're giving him his space right now to decide on what he wants to do."
Before Brady's announcement this week, Gronkowski has spoken with multiple media outlets expressing that if he had to decide about retirement right now, he would retire.
"If they're like, 'Rob, you've got to decide right now, right this second if you're playing next year,' I would say no right now," Gronkowski said, via TMZ Sports. "I would be like, 'No, I'm not playing.'"
But, Gronk reiterated he'll give his body time to heal before he makes a final decision.
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And, now that the only quarterback he's ever played for in the league will not be returning next season, no one will be surprised if/when Gronkowski follows suit. However, he made no alludes to a retirement announcement in his Instagram post dedicated to Brady.