NFL On Fox Would Welcome Rob Gronkowski Back, Whenever He’s Ready

Rob Gronkowski sent shockwaves through the NFL and sports landscape Tuesday afternoon when he came out of retirement in a trade from New England to Tampa Bay to join Tom Brady with the Buccaneers.

The 30-year-old tight end won three Super Bowls with the Patriots as Brady’s primary receiving target, but retired after the 2018 championship run due to the wear and tear that ravaged his body over nine seasons. Far from one to shy away from the spotlight, Gronk agreed to do some broadcast work for the NFL on Fox. And he was good at it. Like really good.

Gronkowski made his broadcasting debut on Oct. 20 of last season, exactly six months ago, as a special guest on Week 7’s “Fox NFL Kickoff.” He had unique and poignant insight on why the “Patriot Way” still works in the modern era, though New England’s stunning first round defeat to Tennessee in January’s playoffs took some air out of the argument.

What makes Fox the best NFL pregame show year in and year out is the network’s ability to find and develop talent who strike that right balance between x’s and o’s analysis, though not too much, and a lighthearted nature that keeps fans engaged and entertained. I was able to see that first hand on set at Fox’s Thursday night pregame show in New York in its season finale. While Gronk wasn’t there that night, everyone from Michael Strahan to Tony Gonzalez could tell that he had the ability to excel as a studio analyst if he so desired.

And while he was a star attraction in Miami for Super Bowl 54 for his hard partying off the field, Gronkowski had what every network covets: The name recognition from every football fan in America and the respect from current players who either grew up watching him or played against him themselves. It showed on Super Bowl Sunday in this taped piece with Gonzalez and tight ends Travis Kelce of Kansas City and George Kittle of San Francisco.

Now Gronkowski will head back to the trenches, dealt by New England along with a 7th-round pick to Tampa Bay for a 4th-round selection. He’ll honor the one year and $10 million remaining on his contract and take it from there.

“Fox Sports wishes Rob Gronkowski the very best as he returns to play in the NFL,” Fox Sports said in an emailed statement. “Even though we will miss having our teammate, we cannot wait to see what he does on the field with Tom and the rest of the Bucs this season. Gronk will always have a place on our NFL on FOX team.”

Gronkowski is in the enviable position of having the rest of his adult life set up for him if he wants it. Fox is clearly happy to bring him back and possibly have him as a fixture on its NFL programming for decades. After a successful weekend hosting WrestleMania for WWE a couple of weeks ago, an event that was ironically supposed to take place in Tampa, Gronkowski could have a long and successful career as a wrestling host, personality or actual superstar. Hell, as long as SmackDown is on Fox, they can use him for both NFL and WWE.

Whether dancing as a Laker Girl with James Corden or hamming it up on “The Masked Singer,” Gronkowski has the it factor that makes him TV gold, Jerry.

And that’s why giving football one last go makes some sense for Gronk. With his future seemingly secure, why not give it one final run with Brady, away from Bill Belichick’s uber-structured environment and in his destined natural habitat of Florida. He’s got his whole future planned out ahead of him. And if it’s as an NFL analyst, his first few months in that role was nearly as impressive as his Hall Of Fame exploits on the field.

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