On a day marked by three high-profile NFL players announcing their retirements, could the Buccaneers lose another key player to retirement?
Buccaneers fans are almost assuredly sick from reading about Rob Gronkowski and his potential retirement/return, and to be fair, we’re sick of writing about it.
However, Gronk brings this on himself when he draws out the process in this way. Gronk has a way of cultivating a news cycle even when he isn’t in it, and the recent one centered on the retirement of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Frank Gore, and Alex Mack brings Gronk right back into the mix.
While many people are saying that there is no shot that Gronk retires and that he is definitely coming back for one last year with Brady, these retirements and the Aaron Donald rumors should cause concern for the Gronkowski supporters.
While Fitzpatrick, Gore, and Mack were likely to be expected based on their ages and injury histories, Gronk isn’t a strange case for a player to retire at his age.
Given what he has accomplished and won mixed with his bad injury luck last season, Gronkowski probably has a better claim to retire than anyone.
Plus, with the talks coming from Aaron Donald and a lack of need for football and the NFL, it probably makes a bit more sense for the unsure Gronk to lean towards retiring young and leaving the game with his health still intact.
Players talk about retirement as the hardest decision they ever make. Most guys never know when to do it or when the right time is. Perhaps going out with other great players on their own terms at the same time makes it easier, but in the end this boils down to a personal choice on a difficult matter.
There is still time for Gronk to make up his mind and come back to Tampa, but let’s not pretend that anything is etched in stone.
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