It’s not often you hear a former Patriots player take a shot the organization, but that’s exactly what Rob Gronkowski did during an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week.
Gronk made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the show and during his interview with Kimmel, he was asked about the crazy situation that happened in Tampa Bay’s regular season finale. Back in Week 18, the tight end stayed on the field longer than he probably should have during a 41-17 blowout win over the Panthers.
Going into the game, Gronk needed seven catches to hit 55 for the season, which would earn him a $500,000 bonus. The tight end also needed 85 yards to reach 750 for the season, which would earn him another $500,000 for a total of $1 million.
Not only did Gronk stay in the game to make sure he would hit both bonuses, but Tom Brady also stayed in to make sure it would happen. After playing a highlight video from the game, Kimmel asked Gronk if it was normal for players stay in a game so they could try to hit a performance bonus, and that’s when Gronk took his shot at the Patriots.
“Yes, I’ve seen it before actually. Not with the Patriots, though,” Gronk said. “I mean, they’ll probably pull you before you hit that bonus there.”
Gronk then nervously laughed and followed up his comment by saying, “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Apparently, no one wants to be on Bill Belichick’s bad side, even if they no longer play for Belichick.
You can see the entire exchange below.
One other subject Kimmel touched on with Gronk was Brady’s decision to come out of retirement. The tight end, who has spent his entire career catching passes from Brady, said he wasn’t surprised that Brady made a return, he was just surprised at the timing.
“I was not surprised at all,” Gronkowski said of Brady’s decision to return, via PFT. “I was actually surprised how quick it was, because I thought he was possibly going to take a year off or something like that and maybe come back after that. I believe he’ll have it until he’s at least 50 years old. I see his work ethic day in and day out, and it’s second to none.”
Although Brady has announced that he’s playing in 2022, Gronk still hasn’t made a decision. In an interview with TMZ this week, Gronk said he’s “not ready to commit to the game of football right now.” It would definitely be surprising if Gronk doesn’t play, but it sounds like retirement is still an option for the 32-year-old, who will turn 33 on May 14.
