After plenty of rumors and speculation regarding his future in the NFL, now-former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski opted to call it a career last week.
Gronkowski's second season with the Buccaneers came to an end following the team’s playoff exit against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round. While there was much chatter since the game that Gronkowski would decide to return for the 2022 season to feature in Tom Brady’s potential farewell campaign, he elected to retire instead.
Over the past week, there has been much discussion on Gronkowski’s legacy in the NFL. For Buccaneers senior consultant Bruce Arians, as he told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, he views the veteran tight end as one of the all-time greats.
“If not the best ever, [he’s] top three,” Arians said. “Great blocker and receiver. Extremely hard worker.
“Always prepared to win.”
Gronkowski’s resume in the NFL speaks for itself, and he has a case to be called the best tight end in league history. While the four-time Super Bowl winner ranks behind Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates in the most receiving yards and receptions leaderboards, he does hold multiple tight end records.
Among them, Gronkowski finished his career with 32 100-plus receiving yard games, which is the most ever by a tight end. More so, he also tallied 15 receiving touchdowns in the playoffs, which stands as the second-most all-time behind Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice.
In the big picture, Gronkowski left behind quite a memorable legacy during his respective runs with the Buccaneers and New England Patriots.
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