New England Patriots rumors: Why Rob Gronkowski return is still unlikely

Rob Gronkowski made an announcement  on Tuesday morning and now it seems even less likely that he returns to play for the New England Patriots.

Well the story of Rob Gronkowski will always be interesting. New England Patriots waited on the edge of their seats to see what the former tight end would say on Tuesday morning.

Ever since Gronkowski said he was retiring there were some skeptics. Some thought that the Patriots would just have Gronk return before the playoffs.

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Now this would be awesome but I think it is highly unlikely. Especially after Rob Gronkowski’s recent comments.

We all know Gronkowski as this fun loving guy who always seems to have a smile on his face. Patriots fans got a completely different view of the former tight end during this announcement.

Gronkowski was extremely serious. He talked about how much the game of football had affected him. Gronk even teared up at some points.

"“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.”"

This was some really sad stuff and also reminds you that these guys are human beings. We saw what happened when Andrew Luck retired. Plenty of people blasted him for… caring about his long term health.

Luck and Gronkowski show that players struggle a lot when returning from an injury, both physically and mentally. It’s stunning to imagine these guys not loving football anymore.

Also I don’t think we recognize how much of a beating these guys take. Gronkowski mentioned that after the Super Bowl he couldn’t sleep and was crying due to a hit to his quad. When watching the hit it just looks like a normal football play.

The even crazier part of this is that Gronkowski stayed in the game and made a key catch to ensure that the Patriots would win the game. These athletes do things that the average joe couldn’t even dream of.

So I think it is fair to say that Rob Gronkowski won’t be coming back. He has had to deal with injuries his entire career and I can’t imagine he wants to end up in such pain ever again.

Gronk deserves to live in peace and he will find that by not returning to the New England Patriots.