How did Gronk end up in Tampa? Coach Bruce Arians says Brady was “adamant” about reunion
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ new general manager wears No. 12.
That might be a bit of an overstatement, however, it’s worth noting that coach Bruce Arians gave Tom Brady credit for the Bucs’ pursuit of Rob Gronkowski.
“It was really Tom,” Arians told ESPN’s NFL Live on Thursday. “Tom brought it up to me, and I didn’t even think it was a possibility that [Gronkowski] wanted to come back. And [Brady] was adamant about, ‘Yeah, he really wants to play; he’d love to play with us.’”
But Gronk still had one year left on his contract with the New England Patriots. That, of course, is where the Bucs’ real GM Jason Licht had to step in and work his magic, eventually trading a fourth-round pick in exchange for the tight end as well as a seventh rounder.
“So Jason Licht got the ball rolling with the Patriots,” Arians added, “the conversation was there, and [Gronkowski’s] working out, he’s in great shape and he’s raring to go. So we’re really looking forward to getting on the practice field.”
Gronk, who cited injuries as the main reason for his retirement after the 2018 season, rekindled his love for football after giving his body some time to rest. He also claims to have cut somewhere between 12-15 pounds to get to his current playing weight of 250, something that could alleviate some stress on his joints.
“I said it from the beginning that I wouldn’t come back unless if I’m feeling it, unless if I’m feeling good, feeling healthy, and I’m feeling like I’m ready to go. And now this is the case. This is the time,” Gronkowski said in his introductory press conference, later adding that he relayed this to Brady in February.
If the Gronk-Brady reunion can even slightly live up to their days in New England, Tampa could be a fun team to watch. The NFL apparently seems to think so: the Bucs are slotted for five primetime games after averaging roughly one per season over since 2005.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 4:15 PM.
