Rob Gronkowski admits he came close to signing with Patriots division rival
Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has a new favorite team to cheer for, and it’s not the Patriots. The tight end revealed that he is switching back to being a Buffalo Bills fan, during an appearance on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce.
Gronkowski was born in Amherst, New York. The tight end grew up cheering for the Bills. He also performed well against the Bills on the field, recording 74 catches for 1,132 yards and 12 touchdowns in 16 head-to-head meetings.
His most memorable performance against the Bills came as a member of the Patriots. He had nine catches on 11 targets for 147 yards, averaging 16.3 yards per reception.
Now, he wants to root for his former AFC East rival.
He even admitted that he was in talks with Buffalo at one point to play during the 2022 season.
“I’m kind of a Buffalo Bills fan now, again,” said Gronkowski. “Now that I’m not playing no more I’m like, ‘Dang.’ And I thought about it—how cool that would be to play for the Buffalo Bills. I actually thought about it when Tom [Brady] retired this year. I was like, ‘Alright.’ I didn’t really feel like playing football after this year, and I was like, ‘Ahh, Tom retired.’ I was like, ‘I’m gonna check out some other teams.’
“So I was actually in talks with the Buffalo Bills a little bit. They wanted me to come up there. It just wasn’t there, though. If my mindset was there, I would probably most likely be in Buffalo right now playing with the Bills.”
Gronkowski most recently played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021. He recorded 55 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns. He played 11 years in the league overall, including nine with New England.
Although hypothetical, a Josh Allen-Rob Gronkowski tandem would have been intriguing to see in action, and frightening for Patriots fans.
List
Patriots' top 10 highest-graded offensive players in 2022, per PFF
