Rob Gronkowski announces retirement from football

 The football party is officially over for Rob Gronkowski. After mulling it over for nearly a month, Gronk has made the decision to retire.

The Patriots tight end made the somewhat surprising announcement in a lengthy Instagram post where he thanked multiple people.

"It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far," Gronk wrote. "I will be retiring from the game of football today."

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It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far. I will be retiring from the game of football today. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Mr. Kraft and Coach Belichick gave to me when drafting my silliness in 2010. My life experiences over the last 9 years have been amazing both on and off the field. The people I have meet, the relationships I have built, the championships I have been apart of, I just want to thank the whole New England Patriots organization for every opportunity I have been giving and learning the great values of life that I can apply to mine. Thank you to all of Pats Nation around the world for the incredible support since I have been apart of this 1st class organization. Thank you for everyone accepting who I am and the dedication I have put into my work to be the best player I could be. But now its time to move forward and move forward with a big smile knowing that the New England Patriots Organization, Pats Nation, and all my fans will be truly a big part of my heart for rest of my life. It was truly an incredible honor to play for such a great established organization and able to come in to continue and contribute to keep building success. To all my current and past teammates, thank you for making each team every year special to be apart of. I will truly miss you guys. Cheers to all who have been part of this journey, cheers to the past for the incredible memories, and a HUGE cheers to the uncertain of whats next.

A post shared by Rob Gronkowski (@gronk) on Mar 24, 2019 at 2:53pm PDT

Gronk had thought about retiring after the 2017 season, but after mulling it over for nearly two months, he decided to play one more season, which ended up being a struggle for the 6-foot-6 tight end. In 2018, Gronk put up some of the worst numbers of his career while battling through multiple injuries that caused him to miss a total of three games. The Patriots tight end caught just three touchdown passes during the regular season, which tied a career low.

That being said, Gronk will absolutely be going out on top. Although he had a rough regular season, Gronk ended up playing a key role in the Patriots' playoff run that ended with the team beating the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
In the Super Bowl win, Gronk caught six passes for 87 yards, including a 29-yard reception in the second half that will go down as the final catch of his career. The fourth quarter reception gave the Patriots the ball at the Rams' 2-yard line, leading to the only touchdown of the game for either team.
"The season is a grind. It's up and down. I'm not going to lie and sit here and say every week is the best. Not at all. You go up. You go down. You can take some serious hits," he said. "Try to imagine getting hit all the time and trying to be where you want to be every day in life. It's tough. It's difficult. To take hits to the thigh, to take hits to your head, abusing your body, isn't what your brain wants. When your body is abused, it can bring down your mood. You have to be able to deal with that, too, throughout the season. You have to be able to deal with that going into games."
At the same time, Brady highlighted a different side of Gronkowski, as he has long been one of the most philanthropic players on the team. In 2016, Gronkowski was the team's recipient of the Ron Burton Community Service Award.

"For as big and physical as he is, he is a gentle, kind man," Brady said.

Gronkowski's notable accomplishments on the field include:

In 2011, he set NFL single-season records for touchdowns (18) and receiving yards (1,327) by a tight end and became the first tight end to lead the conference in scoring with 108 points.

Between 2010 and '12, he became the first tight end in NFL history with three straight 10-plus touchdown seasons.

He led all tight ends in receiving yards for the fourth time in 2017, trailing only Tony Gonzalez (seven) and Shannon Sharpe (five) for most seasons leading the league in receiving yards as a tight end.

He became the only tight end in NFL history to post three seasons of 1,000 yards receiving and 10-plus touchdowns (2011, 2014, 2015).

He reached 1,000 yards receiving for the fourth time in his career in 2017, tying Gonzalez and Jason Witten for the most 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end in NFL history. His 80 touchdowns (79 receiving, one rushing) are the most in Patriots history. Only Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers have connected on more touchdowns between a tight end and quarterback in NFL history than Gronkowski's 78 with Brady.

He recorded his 50th touchdown reception in his 59th game, which was 33 games earlier than the next-fastest tight end.

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