Rob Gronkowski Has 'No Regrets' About NFL Retirement; Remains Open to Return

Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said he has "no regrets" about retiring after the 2018 season at Fox Sports' media availability for Super Bowl LIV. 

"Oh, no, not at all. No regrets at all," Gronkowski said (via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk).

"Feeling good. I knew that's what I wanted to do. I knew that that's where I was headed, and no regrets at all, man. Been having a good year. I felt like that was the time. Had a month or so after the season and just felt like that was the time. Feels good to know that it was a good decision."

Gronkowski, who currently works as a Fox Sports football analyst, played for the Pats from 2010-2018. The four-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler won three Super Bowls in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

As for whether he's thought about a return to the field, Gronkowski kept the door slightly ajar, although he did note that he's "set where I'm at":

"I'll answer this the same how I always answer it: If I ever come back, and I feel like I have that passion, that strong passion for a continued time, not just one day or like one hour, like, I need to play football again, and I'm talking about continued passion for about a good week or a good month or so. Then, I would think about truly coming back to football.

"As of right now, I'm set where I'm at. But I know I'm a young guy, and I still love to stay in shape and compete, so if that passion, that fire ever comes back, then that's when I would come back to football."

Gronkowski's final season saw him catch 47 passes for 682 yards and three touchdowns. He also snagged 12 passes for 166 yards in his final two postseason games.

Gronkowski has addressed the possibility of unretiring numerous times, including in August, when he announced in a press conference that he would be linking with Abacus Inc. to promote the use of CBD oil for athletes' pain relief.

"Maybe down the road," Gronkowski said. "I have to have that passion. I have to have the fire. I'm not going to go out there and be beat ... up. That's not the way to live. That's not the way to inspire other people. And I was noticing that."

He added: "I love all my fans. I love Patriots fans. I feel that love, but I want to be clear to my fans: I needed to recover. Football was bringing me down, and I didn’t like it. I was losing the joy in life."

Gronkowski has suffered numerous injuries over the course of his football career, including a concussion, a torn ACL and a torn MCL on the same play in December 2013, per Kaelen Jones of Sports Illustrated.

Back and ankle injuries caused him to miss three games during his final campaign in 2018, and that's in addition to a leg contusion he suffered during Super Bowl LIII.

According to Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire, Gronk said "he needed three procedures to drain 1,000 milliliters of blood from his thigh due to internal bleeding" after that injury and could only sleep 20 minutes a night because of the pain. 

Gronk told the media he is not in pain anymore and is able to return to the NFL but noted that he has to be mentally ready and may not reach that point.

Gronkowski, 30, is a member of the NFL 100 All-Time Team.