On March 24, 2019, Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL. But after a year-long hiatus, he returned to the league last April to join his longtime quarterback and friend, Tom Brady, with the Buccaneers. The rest, as they say, has been history.
Being away from football for a year before coming back to play in the Florida heat certainly meant there was going to be an adjustment period for the future Hall of Fame tight end last summer. He had to get back to his playing weight, plus he had to get back into the swing of being a professional football player again.