Getty Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
When New England Patriots fans think of Rob Gronkowski they usually think of how much fun he had on and off the field. But in a new interview, Gronkowski, the longtime Patriots tight end, revealed how depressing his time in New England could be.
“A regular season game with the Patriots, actually — throughout my 20s, if we won a game, the next day it felt like we still lost a game,” Gronkowski said on his January 18 appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams” show. “And if we lost a game, it felt like you were in super depression for like two days — or like for the whole week.
“So that’s what made you really want to win the games when you were with the Patriots,” said Gronkowski, who played for the Patriots from 2010 to 2018. “Because you didn’t want to ever feel that depression feeling for the two days after the game. You’re like, ‘We have to win the game. We have to win the game so we have a good week, so we feel good tomorrow.’”
Gronkowski, who grew up in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, also noted that since his retirement from football after the 2021 season, he is once again a fan of the Buffalo Bills, one of the Patriots’ AFC East rivals.
Rob Gronkowski Also Believes That Tom Brady Won’t Return to the New England Patriots
Gronkowski, who has been making the media rounds this month, was asked on the January 16 episode of the “New Heights” podcast, hosted by NFL players Travis and Jason Kelce, whether he believed that quarterback Tom Brady would return to New England once he becomes a free agent after the Super Bowl.
“I would 100% be surprised if he went back to New England, no doubt? It would be nuts, it would be a crazy story, but I just really don’t see that happening,” said Gronkowski, who played with Brady in both New England and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and 2021. “I’m not Tom. I’m just putting my analyzing skills out there, and I think that would be a tough shot for him, but it’s open.”
A month earlier, Gronkowski told Fox News Digital that the Patriots would welcome Brady back with open arms if he wanted to return.
“I mean, if Tom really wanted to, I’m sure that it would be all open arms to go back to New England. I would just have to say all parties would need to want it,” Gronkowski said for a December 22 story.
The Patriots quarterback job is in a unique spot after the 2022 season. The starting job that once seemed locked up by Mac Jones isn’t so secure. If New England decides to bring in another quarterback, Jones would be in a true quarterback competition.
Rob Gronkowski Doesn’t Want to Return to NFL
Gronkowski also told ESPN’s Mike Reiss that his mindset wasn’t in the right place to make an NFL return.
“This year my mindset wasn’t even close to going back out on the field,” Gronkowski said on January 19. “Even when a couple teams called me, it just wasn’t there. The situation was the right situation, but my mindset wasn’t there. I feel like my mindset just isn’t there, even going into this offseason. I would say it’s a very slim chance.”