Rob Gronkowski Accidentally Ghosted Joe Burrow After Recruitment Pitch

The four-time Super Bowl champion couldn't believe that the Bengals quarterback was actually reaching out to him.

Gronkowski played 11 NFL seasons with both the Patriots and the Buccaneers. / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Back in 2022, former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski said the only other quarterback he'd want to play with in the NFL other than Tom Brady is Joe Burrow.

Apparently the Cincinnati Bengals signal caller got word of Gronk’s interest, and took it to heart, reaching out to the future Hall of Famer about joining forces. Instead of a reply, Burrow got ghosted.

On his Dudes on Dudes podcast with former teammate Julian Edelman this week, Gronk shared that after being duped by a fake phone number early in his career, he would never let himself get fooled again—a principle that led to Burrow being left on read by the tight end.

"When Malcom Brown was drafted to the Patriots, I got a text message that night that was like, 'Hey Rob, it's Malcom Brown, pleasure to be on your team. It's an honor to be your teammate.'” Gronk explained. “Eventually, that night I called the number and it was not Malcom Brown.”

"I was like, I ain't ever gonna let that sh** happen to me ever again. I ain't answering random numbers."

Fool Gronk once, shame on you, fool Gronk twice… you get ghosted, sorry @JoeyB pic.twitter.com/nTxjCvGe37

— DudesOnDudes (@DudesOnDudesPod) December 5, 2024

"Fast forward... I get a text message," he continued, "'Yo Gronk, what's up man. Heard you talking about me in the media. It's Joe Burrow. I would love if you came to the Cincinnati Bengals.'

"I was like, I ain't getting got again.... This is nuts. I ain't falling for this sh**."

Gronkowski explained that when he eventually met Burrow for the first time in person at Michael Rubin's 4th of July white party in the Hamptons, the quarterback called him out for not responding.

The four-time Super Bowl champion couldn't believe it, and apologized.

Given that Gronkowski has pseudo-retired from the NFL twice now, it's hard to believe he would have return again. If you're a Bengals fan, however, you may have a new-found disdain for whoever pretended to be Malcolm Brown in April of 2015.

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