Getty Images Retired tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Rob Gronkowski is willing to come out of retirement to join the Dallas Cowboys — to play kicker.
Gronk is gearing up for FanDuel’s “Kick of Destinty” promotion, where the future Hall of Fame tight end will attempt a 25-yard field goal. If he makes it, he wants Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to give him a shot at solving their kicking woes.
“Jerry Jones — if I make this kick please give me a call. I will come back an unretire,” Gronkowski said in an interview with USA Today Sports.
It’s some humor from Gronkowski, who has faced rumors of coming out of retirement since stepping away from the game in 2021. He did admit that kicking is a lot harder than it looks.
“It’s wild. When you put the ball down and look up, those goalposts look so big and so close together,” Gronkowski said.
Cowboys ‘Restarting’ at Kicker After Maher’s Struggles
“Jerry Jones, if I make this kick, please give me a call, I will come back and un-retire as a kicker.”
– @RobGronkowski on his Super Bowl Sunday field goal attempt 🤣
The Cowboys struggled with their kicking in the postseason, with Brett Maher missing four extra points in a Wild Card win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He became the first kicker to miss four PATs in a regular-season or postseason game since the statistic was first tracked for individual players in 1932, per Elias Sports Bureau. Maher had another PAT blocked against the San Francisco 49ers but also nailed two field goals.
After the postseason struggles, Jones said the team would “start over” at the position, meaning Maher’s second-stint in Dallas is over.
“We are back to the drawing board,” Jones said from the Senior Bowl.
It’s unfortunate for Maher, who was solid during the regular season, especially from deep. He connected on 29 of 32 field-goal attempts and was especially good from deep. He hit nine of 11 attempts from 50 yards or longer. Maher was also 50 of 53 extra-point attempts in 17 regular season games, which made his postseason swoon even more unexpected.
Cowboys Look to Solve Dak Prescott’s Turnover Issue
Kicking was far from the only issue for the Cowboys, with Dak Prescott’s turnovers also proving to be tough for Dallas to overcome. Despite missing five games, he tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions during the regular season and tossed two more in an NFC Divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Cowboys parted ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore this offseason and Jones thinks it’ll impact Prescott positively.
“I’m very strong on Dak,” Jones said. “We have, in my mind, a unique person, a unique football player, a unique quarterback. This whole thing reflects the upside that I feel in Dak. The fact that we’re doing this, Mike’s calling the plays, this has everything to do with the positives around Dak. It’s building around Dak.”
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones went as far as to say they want Dak to be their man under center for the next decade.
“The bigger thing for us is Dak is going to be our guy for, hopefully, the next 10 years,” Stephen Jones said. “You say, ‘that’s a long time’ because he’s already played 6 of 7. But I think Dak will play that long because he takes care of himself and he’s driven to be great and we fully expect him to be here for 10 years.”