In news that shouldn’t surprise anyone, former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will not return to the NFL in 2019. Gronkowski retired following New England’s Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams and, despite teasing a return, has shown no serious public interest in re-joining the Patriots since making his decision.
Rob Gronkowski Will Not Play in 2019
Gronkowski is officially on the Reserve/Retired list, but had the option to remove himself from said list prior to 4:00 on Saturday, November 30th. That deadline has since passed, meaning that the tight end cannot come back for the remainder of the 2019 season. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Gronkowski has stated multiple times that he will not return in 2019. It’s worth noting that Gronkowski didn’t close the door on coming back in 2020, although it would be unlikely. Chances are, Gronkowski has played his last NFL down.
The Patriots have struggled to find a replacement for the future Hall of Famer. In the first year of Gronkowski’s absence, New England ranks 10th in Offensive DVOA and 25th in Red Zone Touchdown Percentage. Adding N’Keal Harry to the mix should help the red zone offense, but the fact remains that the Patriots would have welcomed Gronkowski with open arms.
It’s easy to see why Gronkowski prefers life off the football field, as the current FOX Sports analyst suffered an absurd amount of injuries during his nine-year career. During his time in New England, Gronkowski suffered forearm, back, knee, head, and ankle injuries limiting him to just one full 16-game season. Those injuries didn’t prevent him from being the most dominant force when healthy, as Gronkowski recorded 521 receptions for 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns in just 115 games. Gronkowski also won First-Team All-Pro honor in four of the five seasons in which he appeared in 14 or more games.
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