Rob Gronkowski posts curious response to report that he's playing football next season

Jason Owens
·Staff writer

On Wednesday, NFL Network reported that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is expected to play football next season.

If accurate, that’s significant news in the wake of Gronkowski hinting at retirement after the Super Bowl and reports that he’s been unhappy in New England.

Shortly after the NFL Network report, Gronkowski posted this on Twitter.

Ummm. OK, Gronk. That’s vague. And interesting. And probably super stressful for Patriots fans.

We won’t begin to try and decipher here what’s going on in Gronkowski’s head in regard to this tweet. Or otherwise, for that matter.

But the report about his expected return was far from firm with Ian Rapoport saying “I have not talked to one person who believes Rob Gronkowski will retire.” Rapoport also said that neither the Patriots nor Gronkowski’s agent Drew Rosenhaus shed any light on Gronkowski’s plans.

Gronkowski’s tweet on Wednesday is not the first cryptic message he’s posted this offseason presumably regarding his career plans.

He tweeted this, raising speculation that he’s eyeing a move to the wrestling ring.

And this bit of philosophical wisdom.

Again, we’re not going to try and guess what that means.

What we do know is that Gronkowski has had a career filled with physical pain. He has had multiple back surgeries dating back to his college career at Arizona.

Watch on Yahoo: Live stream the 2018 NFL scouting combine on Yahoo Sports’ website, app

He twice suffered a broken forearm in 2012 that eventually required surgery and got infected, leading to two more operations. The second break happened when Gronkowski returned to play in a playoff game.

He suffered an ACL tear in his right knee that knocked him out of the Patriots’ playoff run in 2013. He has also suffered numerous sprains, tears and concussions.

Rob Gronkowski continues to keep fans and media guessing about his future NFL plans. (AP)
Rob Gronkowski continues to keep fans and media guessing about his future NFL plans. (AP)

On top of Gronkowski’s own words after the Super Bowl and well-documented injury history, NBC Boston has reported that he has been unhappy in New England since training camp and has been considering leaving the game as a result.

In short, no one could objectively blame Gronkowski for putting his pain in the past as much as possible and taking his millions into retirement.

And it’s something he’s in great shape to do if he chooses, with ESPN and NFL Network reporting that Gronkowski has been living off of endorsement money and hasn’t touched the more than $44 million he’s earned in salary.

The bottom line is that nobody appears to have a firm bead on Gronkowki’s intentions. Quite possibly, he still doesn’t. But he does seem to be thoroughly enjoying keeping fans and media on pins and needles with his Twitter account in the meantime.

More from Yahoo Sports:

• Manziel recalls the night that ruined his career
• Citing weed law, coach rejects player from Colorado
• Pac-12 boss calls on LeBron, NBA stars to help fix NCAA
• James Harden became the sole owner of Wesley Johnson’s ankles