When New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement, there was little surprise. Gronk had hinted at retirement towards the end of previous campaigns, and speculation was his body simply was not holding up to the grind of a 16 game NFL season.

On Sunday, Gronkowski once again reiterated to reporters that life is good. Gronk also added that any talk of coming out of retirement can be ”put to rest.”

Hey, it's June. News is slow, why not the question?

It's also a reasonable one.

If you're betting whether or not Gronkowski stays put and out of the league, you are making a good bet. Having said that, is it illogical to think that wager gets a bit hazy come the fall? His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, painted a scenario where he could see his client going back to New England.

While the wager is a safe one now, you could get some action in October or November. I mean, what if the Patriots are having another one of those charmed seasons? What if longtime teammate Tom Brady needs just a little something to get over the hump.

The itch that all first year retired players get could become a tough scratch for Gronk. Especially if watching a Patriots game on Sunday afternoon. Most especially if he feels good.

For Gronkowski, retirement was rooted in the idea that being healthy was incredibly elusive. For the slam-dunk Hall of Fame tight end, injuries were a constant companion.

But what if during the course of a long hot summer, he begins to feel better than he has for the last few seasons? What if game day was something not completely out of his system?

Even more compelling, what if New England was putting together the kind of season that had all the markings of another Super Bowl? What if the Patriots entered November, a month with a bye week and only three games, and rolling at 8-0? Would another shot at a perfect season and one more Lombardi Trophy be the kind of enticement that would make him strap it up one more time?

After one season away, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten felt that pull. He also saw a Cowboys team perhaps ready to make a bonafide championship run. While Gronk has already been down that road, successfully, perhaps the potential for a perfect season would light that fire one more time.

Such a possibility would have to whet the appetite. It would also be the centerpiece for his speech in Canton.

November is still six months away, and Gronk is enjoying a well deserved rest. But one could argue come late September or October, whether another party or celebrity appearance is enough to quell whatever boredom may have set in. Even Gronk knows the cheers of an adoring Patriots fan base is hard to forget and is not easily if at all replicated.

Granted, it would have to be a perfect storm to coax Gronkowski out of retirement. Or at least one pretty near perfect.

Being out of the game looks good now in the first few days of June. However, come the cool of a Sunday afternoon in November, football might be an itch to hard not to want to scratch one more time.