Rob Gronkowski reveals how he was ‘almost’ traded to the Lions despite being committed to play alongside Tom Brady at Patriots in 2018

The legendary TE Rob Gronkowski faked a retirement to not get traded to the Detroit Lions.

Rob Gronkowski reveals how he was ‘almost’ traded to the Lions despite being committed to play alongside Tom Brady at Patriots in 2018

Rob Gronkowski and Tom brady (Image via Getty Images)

Rob Gronkowski is one of the most accomplished players in NFL history. The New England Patriots legendary tight end used to dominate the opposing teams on the field while catching passes from Tom Brady. Despite his commitment to winning, Brady and the Patriots, Bill Belichick once tried to trade the tight end to the Detroit Lions.

Speaking in a recent episode of the NFL Network show ‘The Season with Peter Schrager‘, Gronkowski revealed the story behind why he almost got traded to the Lions back in 2018.

“We were kind of having some disconnect between myself and the organization. It was kind of like Mayhem a little bit,” said Gronkowski, talking about why he was on the trade market. “Maybe I handled myself a little wrong, maybe if I could go back I would have done it differently.” 

When Belichick was shopping Gronk to the Lions, Gronk wasn’t too happy and considered retiring from the sport, not because he was going to Detroit but because he had to leave the New England-based football team.“In the end, whoever I got traded to, I was going to retire,” Gronkowski said. “Like, it didn’t matter if it was the Lions, I wasn’t going regardless.” 

Gronk said that the Patriots had enough of the actions of the tight end and wanted to get rid of him. “So I was kinda being a do****** a little bit. And then Bill was like ‘Let’s get this do******* out of here.”

In the end, Gronk vetoed the trade and stayed with the Patriots for one more season. He helped Tom Brady and the Pats to win a Super Bowl in 2018 and eventually retired in the following off-season.

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Rob Gronkowski unretired to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay

Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady
Rob Gronkowski (87) and Tom Brady (12) (Image via SI)

During the 2020 off-season, the biggest news in the NFL world was Tom Brady leaving New England and signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also brought his long-term friend Rob Gronkowski to the party in Florida.

Gronkowski and Brady played together for nearly a decade with the Patriots and won 3 Super Bowl rings together. Gronkowski had been a massive part of the Brady-led Patriots dynasty before retiring back in 2019.

However, when the 15-time Pro Bowl QB Brady began his new adventure in Tampa Bay, Gronkowski wasn’t gonna let just his quarterback have all the fun. Gronk came back from his retirement to join forces with Brady in the 2020 off-season.

The duo eventually led the Buccaneers to the second-ever Super Bowl victory in their franchise’s victory. Gronk played 2 seasons with the Bucs before retiring from the sport for good after the 2021 season.

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