Rob Gronkowski made the shocking announcement earlier this week that he would be returning to the NFL, and was promptly traded from the New England Patriots to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to reunite with his former quarterback Tom Brady. The duo won three Super Bowl Championships together — Super Bowl XLIX in 2014, Super Bowl LI in 2017 and Super Bowl LIII in 2019. Gronk announced his the following month, citing the toll his injury-filled career had on his mental health as one of the main reasons.
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Gronkowksi revealed during his video conference call with the media later in the week that he still had a contusion on his left leg from his last NFL game, in which the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams to win the franchise’s sixth championship.
“For weeks I couldn’t walk that well after that last Super Bowl game we won from my quad contusion,” Gronkowski said. “I actually still have a little indent from it too, but I’m going to get rid of it. I’m going to get rid of it. That’s my goal. That’s one of my final things I got to get fixed on my body, and it’s that quad contusion I took from the Super Bowl over a year ago. There’s still a little dent on my quad from it.”
Saw this quad contusion live and tweeted on it at #SB53. The indent is indicative of muscle death and is permanent but it will NOT affect the physical ability of @RobGronkowski. Seen this happen many times in @NFL. https://t.co/F5T0AdoDNN
— David J. Chao – ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) April 22, 2020
Gronkowski also revealed during the call that he first considered coming out of retirement in February for one last run at a championship alongside Brady. However a month later he signed a contract with WWE, which was reportedly going to include him wrestling in two matches. However all he had done up until his NFL return was make one Friday Night SmackDown appearance and host both nights of WrestleMania 36, the latter of which saw him win the WWE 24/7 Championship.
Gronk is now nearing a full month with the title, which WWE chose to let him keep while leaving for the NFL.
“Congratulations to Rob Gronkowski, the current WWE 24/7 Champion, on his return to football. Per the rules of the 24/7 title, Gronk must defend his championship at all times in any location. He could be celebrating a touchdown pass from #TomBrady…anytime, anywhere,” WWE wrote in a statement regarding the title.
The All-Pro tight end addressed his championship reign during the conference call.
“We need a lot of security,” Gronkowski said. “We need security everywhere. Every tunnel, every entrance. Everywhere in the stadium because I’m the 24/7 WWE title belt champion right now, of the world. Everyone is coming for me. My friends are coming for me and it’s special right now to have it during this quarantine time because no one can find me. No one gets me. So I’m the champ for a while.”
