At the beginning of the offseason, the sports world was greeted with some pretty surprising news that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was retiring.

Okay, it wasn't crazy shocking. Gronkowski had dangled the idea before. However, he was still 29 and at the top of his game, so it was unexpected, to say the least.

According to an article by Mike Reiss of ESPN, Gronkowski ‘could barely walk' following the Super Bowl. That's when he knew it was over.

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Gronkowski detailed how he sustained a quad injury in Super Bowl LIII, and he knew that he was retiring after that.

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“I got done with the game and I could barely walk,” he said. “I slept five minutes that night. I couldn't even think. I was in tears in my bed after a Super Bowl victory. It didn't make that much sense to me. And then, for four weeks, I couldn't even sleep for more than 20 minutes a night. I was like, ‘Damn, this sucks.' It didn't feel good.

“It was one of the biggest, deepest thigh bruises I've ever gotten,” he added, noting it led to significant internal bleeding.

Gronkowski admits he's not 100% committed to retiring. He definitely needed to step away for a least a year though. Give his body and mind some time to recover. If he never gets that itch to play again, that's perfectly fine.

Will the Patriots miss having Gronkowski on the field? Absolutely. This is much bigger than the game, though. The future Hall of Famer shouldn't risk his physical or mental health any further if he feels he can't handle it or it's not worth it. Ultimately this is all his decisions but after reading that I think even the biggest doubters of his retirement will see his reasoning.