Rob Gronkowski wants the world to know that he was kidding when he said he had access to the Buccaneers' playbook while he was still a member of the Patriots.
Gronk expressed surprise Wednesday on Twitter that anyone would have taken seriously what he said Saturday about being "in" the playbook for "four weeks," well before his April 21 trade to Tampa Bay.
"This is seriously a story?" was how Gronk led his tweet.
GRONK TRADE GRADES: Head-scratcher for the Bucs
Yes, it is; ProFootballTalk.com speculated Wednesday that Bucs may have been guilty of tampering if Gronk had gotten the playbook early, just as they may have been guilty of tampering with their approach to signing Gronkowski's longtime New England teammate Tom Brady. The Brady signing on March 20 during NFL free agency would have roughly coincided with the start of Gronk's claimed timeline of early playbook access.
Gronkowski, in his tweet Wednesday, said he had just received his Microsoft Surface from the Bucs that day, and he took a selfie of him hugging it as an offer of proof.
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) April 30, 2020
The Bucs acquired Gronkowski from the Patriots shortly after Gronk dropped hints that he might be coming out of retirement.
