Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement yesterday

For the second time in his career, Rob Gronkowski announced that he's stepping away from the NFL and the world of football after two seasons and a Super Bowl Championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Of course, as we all know, that's not the first time that Gronk hung up his cleats, as just over three years ago, he announced he was retiring from the New England Patriots, who at that point he had spent his entire professional career playing for, after 10 successful seasons and three Super Bowl Championships.

Granted, that first retirement lasted a whopping 13 months, when Gronk announced (in a heartfelt message to New England) that he was coming back from retirement to join his longtime teammate Tom Brady down in Tampa Bay to become a Tight End for the Buccaneers.

And that could be the decision that leads to New England eventually turning (at least partially) to hatred of Gronk, just like a good chunk of New England has turned on Brady.

New England felt disrespected by Tom Brady earlier this year

Back in February, Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after 22 seasons. After spending 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, Brady made the decision to take his talents to Tampa Bay and be the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers. That's not what burned the bridge between New England and Brady -- it was the lack of even mentioning the Pats or the Pats' fans during his nine page Instagram retirement post.

Granted, in his retirement announcement yesterday, Gronk didn't mention New England, but in a sense -- he didn't really have to. He thanked us profusely in his first retirement announcement, and then showed us the love again when he announced his return to football as a Tampa Bay Bucs player.

Gronk and Brady's friendship is well-documented

There are various videos across social media, YouTube, and the rest of the internet that show the chemistry Brady and Gronk have and just how solid their friendship is and how it extends off the field -- and that's exactly what could lead to Gronk's undoing in New England if Brady comes a-calling for his Gronky again.

There's no doubt that when Gronk un-retired back in 2020, Tom Brady was behind it. How else can your explain Gronk returning to join Brady on the same roster once again, like he spent his entire career doing in New England? And it was a great decision by and for all involved, because it led to the ability for the two to take a championship trip to Disney World together...

...as well as run this post-World Championship celebration video back...

...which they first created together in New England.

But if they try to recapture the magic once again and Brady tries to convince Gronk to come out of retirement for a second time, especially after an offseason where he annihilated a lot of New England fans with his retirement announcement and subsequent "just kidding I'm still playing" announcement 5 weeks later?

The hate for Gronk may not be far behind.

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