That Time Rob Gronkowski Says He Retired To Avoid Playing for the Lions

Well, congratulations (again) to Rob Gronkwski for his retirement from the NFL.

The Party Monster of a Tight End made the official announcement Tuesday that this would indeed be it for him... but can we believe it this time?

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Gronk, not known to be subtle about anything he does or says, almost peacefully announced his career's end this week... similar to when he retired from the Patriots in 2019.

At that time, he released a statement saying...

"I was not in a good place. Football was bringing me down, and I didn't like it. I was losing that joy in life."

Famously, that leave of absence only lasted a year after big brother Tom Brady came calling from Tampa to bring him back for a shot at another ring (which they got.)

But MAYBE Gronk wasn't totally honest with us about that first retirement, as this interview on Fox Sports recently popped up on my Instagram Feed from an appearance on NFL on Fox about 9 months ago:

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I mean COME ON!!! REALLY!?!?!? You can DO that?

There's gotta be something illegal about this. You can retire to avoid playing for a team, but then ole' Tommy Boy comes calling, and you can just PICK your next spot?

So now, I don't trust Gronk that he's retiring. I think Detroit came calling again, and he did it again! And then next season, Brady will come calling again, and he'll jump at the chance to play with him.

Nah... this is a joke. Or at the very least, he should be FORCED to play at least one season with the Lions if he un-retires again. Just like you can't fake a slide as the quarterback, you can't fake a retirement, and THIS should be his penance!

... just to be clear, I'm not saying playing for the Lions is a "punishment," I'm just saying it is for GRONK. But put him on the field with some of the pieces the Lions have brought in the past couple years... idk, there's some room for optimism... right?