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It’s been more than two years since Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL for the second time even though plenty of teams would have been very willing to sign him if he’d kept playing. That would seemingly include the Bengals when you consider he revealed he received a recruiting pitch from Joe Burrow that he ignored for a pretty amusing reason.
Rob Gronkowski didn’t have much left to prove when he announced he was hanging up his cleats in 2019 after nine seasons with the Patriots, as he didn’t even need a full decade to cement himself as one of the most legendary tight ends in NFL history.
However, he opted to return for one last ride when Tom Brady took his talents to Tampa Bay, and the duo secured one last Super Bowl as members of the Buccaneers before Gronk called it quits for good in the summer of 2021.
The future Hall of Famer was 33 years old at the time, and he made it pretty clear he wasn’t going to entertain the possibility of a second return. However, prior to Super Bowl LVI between the Rams and the Bengals, he said Joe Burrow was the one quarterback he’d opt to join forces with if given the opportunity.
According to the story Gronk shared while chatting with Julian Edelman on the Dudes on Dudes podcast, the Cincinnati QB decided to shoot his shot by reaching out to see if there was a chance he could lure him back to the NFL. However, he never got a response due to a pledge the retired TE made after getting burned back a fake number.
Fool Gronk once, shame on you, fool Gronk twice… you get ghosted, sorry @JoeyB pic.twitter.com/nTxjCvGe37
— DudesOnDudes (@DudesOnDudesPod) December 5, 2024
The promise in question stemmed from Gronkowski getting duped by a text from someone pretending to be Malcolm Brown after the Patriots selected the DT in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and he subsequently told himself he wouldn’t fall for a similar stunt in the future.
He was still sticking to that vow seven years later when Burrow shot him a text after coming across the aforementioned interview to invite Gronk to mount another comeback with the Bengals, so the QB never received a response.
However, Burrow didn’t waste any time asking why he got snubbed when the two men crossed paths at one of Michael Rubin’s hallowed White Party, and Gronk apologized after realizing he had actually sent the text.
There’s no telling if he actually could have been convinced to come out of retirement if Burrow had gotten the chance to give him a full pitch, but it’s certainly a very compelling hypothetical.