Rob Gronkowski Honors Tom Brady After NFL Retirement, Calls Time with QB 'Special'

Rob Gronkowski has honored Tom Brady after the two played together for 11 seasons between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

In a post, Gronkowski called their football journey together "nothing short of special" after Brady announced his retirement from the NFL:

Brady announced Tuesday he was retiring after 22 seasons. 

Gronkowski has never played in the NFL without Brady as his teammate. He was a second-round draft pick by the New England Patriots in 2010. 

The addition of Gronkowski helped take the Pats offense to another level. The 2010 and 2011 groups are among the top 20 offenses in NFL history by Football Outsiders' DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). 

Brady threw for a then-career-high 5,235 passing yards in 2011. Gronkowski caught 17 of his 36 touchdown passes that season. 

In 2019, after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, Gronkowski retired from the NFL because of a series of injuries suffered over the course of nine seasons. 

After not playing the 2019 season, Gronkowski came out of retirement to join Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The duo hooked up for 100 receptions, 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns in 28 regular-season games over the past two seasons. 

Gronkowski caught two of Brady's three touchdown passes in a 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. 

The 32-year-old caught 90 touchdown passes from Brady. The only quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history with more was Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (114). 

Gronkowski and Brady won four Super Bowls and six conference titles in 11 seasons as teammates.