Buccaneers QB Tom Brady refused to come out of Sunday's game against the Panthers ... until his tight end and good friend, Rob Gronkowski, got the stats he needed to trigger two separate $500,000 bonuses in his contract.
Gronk entered Week 18 -- Tampa's regular season finale -- with 48 catches and 665 receiving yards. He needed 7 catches and 85 yards to trigger both bonuses.
Well, TB12 was gonna make sure he got 'em, 'cause with under 7 mins left to go in the game, the Bucs were up 31-17 in the fourth quarter .