Is Rob Gronkowski staying retired? Yeah, we’ve heard that one before. Back in 2019, he called it quits, only to pull a Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III—just when we thought he was out, he pulled himself right back in. The guy returned to gridiron, reunited with Tom Brady, lifted the Super Bowl with a new team, and then retired. Once Again! Even Quentin Tarantino can’t pull a script like this.

Fast forward to now and the buzz is that the former tight end is returning to the NFL for the third time. Or at least, that’s what we believed until now. So, here’s the deal: if you’re excited about Gronk’s comeback, sorry to break that down, that’s probably not gonna happen. On Wednesday, the NFL Insider Jordan Schultz shared a post on his official Instagram handle and cleared the air on Gronk’s comeback.

In his post, he captioned asking Gronkowski about his so-called NFL comeback. Gronk’s response? Well, you might have not expected this. “Crazy bro. They must know something about me that I don’t. I wish I still had those powers, because that would be cool if I did. But I was just in Australia for a few days. Now it’s time to relax a little. No football.” His fans must be side-eyeing Schultz right about now.

But let’s be real—if Gronk believed that he was fit to return to the NFL, then surely he’d like to play a season or two. Remember when he came out of retirement back in 2020? Yeah, according to the Bucs‘ official source, he told the reporters in April 2020 that he wouldn’t have returned “unless I was feeling it; unless I’m feeling good, feeling healthy and I’m feeling like I’m ready to go.” 

Fast forward to 2021 and the guy won yet another Super Bowl with Tom Brady where he contributed two touchdowns in the victory. Moving forward, he went on to play another season with the Bucs and retired in 2022. Now, the former tight end clarified that he’s not able to play football anymore. Sure, we would have liked to see his elite blocking, incredible hands, and sheer physical dominance.

But at the end of the day, we have to believe the cold truth that Rob Gronkowski is done with the on-field action. As for his post-retirement gig, Gronk now works as a Fox NFL studio analyst.

Rob Gronkowski’s third stint in the NFL

After announcing his retirement in 2022, Gronkowski joined Fox Sports as an NFL studio analyst, where he contributes to both Fox NFL Sunday and Fox NFL Kickoff programming. The guy quit pro football after dominating the red zone as one of the greatest tight ends of the league. However, his possible return for a third stint in the league came to light a few days ago after he appeared on the Dudes on Dudes podcast.

During the podcast, the Fox analyst jokingly said that playing football would be easier than his current job as a media analyst. Uh-huh! That’s enough for the internet speculating about his NFL comeback. “I was talking to my brother, actually, yesterday, and I told him, ‘Hey, I might as well go back to football, because I’m grinding harder than I ever grinded before, and I’m not even playing football,” he said during the podcast on Feb 22.

“So I might as well go back, because playing ball would be easier than what I’ve been doing over the last six months.” However, the rumors were first shut down by the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who called out the news “Nonsense” on his official ‘X’ handle. And now, the former tight end himself clarified that he’s not returning to the gridiron.

All in all, if he made up his mind to stay retired, then it is safe to say that the former TE will be eligible for the Hall of Fame Class of 2027. After all, he wrapped up his career as one of the best TEs in NFL history.