Gronk Says His Mother, Not Tom Brady, Was Main Reason He Wanted to Play for Bucs

Gronkowski's mother lives in Fort Myers, FL.

We all thought the main reason former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski wanted to un-retire and play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was because his former teammate - Tom Brady - was now a Buccaneer. But Gronk claims that Brady was just the "appetizer" and that there was another, more significant reason he decided to join Tampa Bay this offseason. 

During an interview with Ellen Degeneres, Gronkowski said the main reason he wanted to play for the Buccaneers is because his mother lives in Fort Myers, FL, so he will be able to spend more time with her and she can attend his home games. 

Gronk said that his mother living in Florida, not Tom Brady, was the main reason he wanted to play for the Buccaneers. pic.twitter.com/FWZmTJPMpu

— Devon Clements (@DevclemNFL) May 22, 2020

"You know, everyone keeps asking me 'Did Tom (Brady) get you to Tampa?' Well, of course it didn't hurt that Tom went to Tampa, you know, and the opportunity to go to Tampa was there too. But you know, Tom was like the appetizer, and then there's a few other reasons. I love the weather. But the main course, the main reason why I came down to Tampa to play is because my mother live two hours away. She can get to all the games, all eight of our home games. Whenever I have days off, she's two hours down the street and I get to see her. So she's super excited."

While it wouldn't be a good look to say his mother wasn't the first reason for him to want to be traded to the Buccaneers, one has to think if Brady wasn't down in Tampa, Gronkowski would have stayed retired. But it was certainly a nice gesture for the future Hall of Fame tight end to recognize how nice it is to be able to spend more time with his mother now that he will spend most of his time relatively close to her.