In August 2025, at the opening of Gronk Playground on Boston’s Charles River Esplanade, Susan Hurley, a former Patriots cheerleader and Rob Gronkowski’s longtime charity collaborator, turned toward Robert Kraft and essentially asked him to sign Gronk for one day so he could retire as a Patriot. Gronk was standing right there. Kraft gave the idea a thumbs-up.

Hurley later died of ovarian cancer before the ceremony, but Kraft and Gronkowski followed through. In November 2025, Gronk signed the ceremonial one-day contract at Gillette Stadium. It was supposed to close the book on a career that had already ended once in New England and once again in Tampa Bay. But with Gronk back in the football conversation this fall, the question of another return surfaced again. This time, however, the four-time Super Bowl champion has a much clearer answer…

“I left everything in the tank out on the field. I’m empty,” Gronkowski said in an interview with Front Office Sports. “You can stay in shape and not really be in game shape. It was way easier just to look in shape than actually have the glamour muscles. It’s easy to do that, especially once you have them from all the years. Like it’s kind of like just installed in you now from working out for so long and running around for so long. But yeah, I don’t have that stamina to go out there and play anymore.”

And that answer carries more weight because a comeback once seemed possible enough to spark real NFL rumors, even years after Gronkowski had walked away for good.

In February 2025, a report from Denver Sports claimed that Gronkowski was considering another NFL return and had been working out at altitude in Vail, with the Denver Broncos floated as a possible destination. The report did not last long. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport dismissed it as “nonsense,” and Gronkowski himself soon told FOX Sports that the rumors were “crazy,” adding, “No football.” There was no contract, tryout or reinstatement that followed, making it a reported possibility rather than an actual comeback attempt.

That distinction matters now. Gronkowski has already shown that retirement did not necessarily mean the end of football for him. His first exit came in 2019, when he was only 29 and had spent nine seasons absorbing the physical cost of the position. But when his body recovered and the right opportunity arrived, he found his way back onto an NFL field within a year.

In March 2019, the legendary Patriots TE took his initial retirement at the age of 29 after nine seasons in the league, citing the physical and mental toll of numerous injuries. However, Gronkowski stayed away from the game for only one season.

In April 2020, Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to join his legendary duo, Tom Brady, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where they won the Super Bowl LV together. But the comeback was not simply a matter of Brady calling and Gronk answering. Gronkowski had received opportunities to return during his year away and said he wanted to do it only if he felt healthy and genuinely ready. When Brady landed in Tampa, the pieces finally lined up.

Because Gronk had retired while still under contract with New England, Tampa Bay also had to acquire his rights rather than simply sign him. On April 21, 2020, the Buccaneers sent a fourth-round pick to the Patriots for Gronkowski and a seventh-rounder. The reunion was official — and Brady even marked it with a bizarre social-media video that appeared to summon Gronk from the woods.

The return was more than a nostalgia play. Gronkowski played all 16 games in 2020, catching 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns. In 2021, he followed that with 55 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. He then caught two touchdown passes from Brady in Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

However, after two seasons with the Buccaneers, he left the game satisfied in 2022. That second retirement came despite the fact that he could still produce. Tampa Bay had even left the door open for him to return, with general manager Jason Licht saying the team would welcome him back. Gronkowski ultimately chose not to reopen it.

That is part of what makes his latest comments different from the first retirement. In 2019, there was still a path back because Gronkowski had spent only one season away and could envision getting himself into football shape again. In 2026, he is talking about a much longer separation from the game, his last NFL appearance came in January 2022, and a body that may still look ready without being prepared for the demands of an NFL Sunday.

Gronkowski has not said that he is dealing with a new injury or that he is medically unable to play. His point is more specific: staying fit has become second nature after years of professional training, but football conditioning is different. Running routes, blocking, absorbing contact and repeatedly exploding off the line for four quarters require a level of stamina he says he no longer has.

That also explains why the idea of a realistic comeback is so different now. At 37, Gronkowski would be returning after more than four seasons away from NFL game action, with a lengthy injury history behind him. He would first have to decide to seek reinstatement, then find a team willing to give him a roster opportunity and pass the physical and football evaluations that come with it. There is currently no credible report that an NFL team is pursuing him.

But given an opportunity to join a current NFL team, Gronkowski, who was born in New York, had one franchise in mind.

“I’ll go with the Buffalo Bills cuz I’m from that’s my hometown,” Gronkowski added. “With them, you know, being 2-0 with the way that Josh Allen is playing and Dalton Kincaid, we could be a one-two intense duo. It would be a great combination. That would be, in my eyes, the best team to be on right now.”

The Bills mention, however, is purely hypothetical. Gronkowski was not announcing interest in signing with Buffalo, and there is no indication the Bills are pursuing him. He was simply asked which team he would choose if a return were possible. Buffalo had also just moved to 2-0, while Kincaid was coming off a seven-catch, 95-yard, one-touchdown performance against Detroit, giving Gronkowski a current offensive picture to imagine himself in.

There is a revealing contrast in that answer. Gronkowski can still picture himself in an NFL offense, still sees the matchups and still has a team in mind. What he says he no longer has is the physical engine required to make that picture real.

As of now, following his NFL retirement, the former Patriots TE transitioned into a media personality. His football career has given him a second lane rather than leaving him outside the sport. He serves as a regular on-air studio analyst for FOX NFL Sunday and FOX NFL Kickoff throughout the football season.

Outside of the main Sunday television broadcast, Gronkowski also co-hosts a twice-weekly FOX Sports digital series called The Gronk & Jules Show alongside his former New England Patriots teammate Julian Edelman, which launched in September 2026 and gives the two former Patriots teammates another place to dissect the NFL together.

The show is part of a broader post-NFL business built around Gronkowski’s name. His income now comes from broadcasting, endorsements, paid appearances and other business ventures, rather than an NFL paycheck. Forbes reported in 2025 that his business activities were generating at least $10 million annually, before taxes and agent fees, with partnerships including FanDuel, USAA and Monster Energy.

Gronkowski still trains. He still watches the games. He still talks football every week. He can even imagine the team he would pick if the door opened again. But when it comes to actually walking through that door, he says the tank is empty.