Bucs Gameday

Joe Burrow Tried to Recruit Rob Gronkowski After He Retired From Buccaneers

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end accidentally ignored a text from Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow.

River Wells

Oct 21, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Rob Gronkowski former NFL tight end entertains the fans during a Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Oct 21, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Rob Gronkowski former NFL tight end entertains the fans during a Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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It's tough being a high-profile professional athlete and having to be careful about who texts you — especially when one of those texts could have been a big opportunity.

Former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski won multiple Super Bowls, including one in Tampa Bay in 2020, and since then, he's been asked plenty if he plans on coming out of retirement, both by media and by NFL players hoping to lure him to their team. And on the Dudes on Dudes pod with former teammate Julian Edelman, Gronkowski revealed that his distaste for answering unknown phone numbers caused him to accidentally ghost one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

Gronkowski revealed that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow reached out to him to try and get him to play for the Bengals — and that, due to a prior incident with a fan pretending to be former New England Patriots defensive tackle Malcom Brown, Gronkowski ignored the text from a number he didn't recognize.

"I was like 'I ain't getting got again, like, this is nuts,'" Gronkowski told Edelman. "So I'm at the White Party this year, I go up to him... within 10 seconds, he's like, 'Yo, you never responded to me,' and I knew exactly what he was talking about."

See the full story from Gronkowski and Edelman below:

That didn't happen, though, and Gronkowski retired as a member of the Buccaneers. He even recently appeared back in his home uniform to hype up the crowd in Tampa Bay when the team played the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.

READ MORE: Gerald McCoy Calls Out 'Spoiled' Buccaneers Fans Complaining About Todd Bowles

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River Wells
RIVER WELLS

River Wells is a sports journalist from St. Petersburg, Florida, who has covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 2023. He graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2021. You can follow him on Twitter @riverhwells.

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