Ian Rapoport shuts down rumor that Rob Gronkowski is pondering an NFL return

Posted by author February 26, 2025 NFL

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Rob Gronkowski has already put together one NFL comeback in 2020.

Rob Gronkowski is currently working with Fox Sports. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Is Rob Gronkowski weighing yet another NFL comeback?

Cecil Lammey of DenverSports.com dropped an interesting nugget of information on social media Tuesday — reporting via league sources that the 35-year-old Gronkowski is working out and weighing another return to the gridiron in 2025.

“Sources tell me Gronkowski has been working out in Vail this offseason as he wants to physically be ready for another NFL season,” Lammey wrote. “High-altitude training in the offseason could prepare for the rigors of training camp if a team shows interest.”

Gronkowski is no stranger to shaking off the cobwebs from retirement and returning to the playing field.

The future Hall-of-Fame tight end announced his retirement from the Patriots following the team’s win in Super Bowl LIII against the Rams at the end of the 2018 season — only to play another two seasons from 2020-21 after joining Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But it didn’t take long for NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport to shut down the rumor of Gronkowski’s return, calling Lammey’s report “nonsense” on social media.

Gronkowski impressed after returning to football following his first retirement — winning a Super Bowl with Tampa in 2020 and reeling in 100 catches for 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns over his two seasons with the Buccaneers.

But the last time that Gronkowski took the field in an NFL game was more than three years ago, on Jan. 23, 2022. And when he first announced his retirement from New England at just 29 years old, he was candid about how a multiple of injuries forced him to walk away from the game.

“I got done with the game and I could barely walk,” Gronkowski said in August 2019 of a quad injury he suffered in Super Bowl LIII. “I slept five minutes that night. I couldn’t even think. I was in tears in my bed after a Super Bowl victory. It didn’t make that much sense to me. And then, for four weeks, I couldn’t even sleep for more than 20 minutes a night. I was like, ‘Damn, this sucks.’ It didn’t feel good.

“I want to be clear to my fans. I needed to recover. 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,” Gronkowski added.

Even if his playing days are over, Gronkowski remains involved in football — working with ex-Patriots teammate Julian Edelman on Fox’s NFL coverage.