Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL for a second time on Tuesday after several months of deliberation.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end seemed to give legitimate consideration to returning and teaming up with Tom Brady once more, but ultimately decided against it.
Gronkowski’s surprising announcement led to an outpouring of reactions, including one from his longtime girlfriend Camille Kostek.
Kostek left her response to the big life decision on Gronkowski’s Instagram page for all to see:
“Dream chasers ❤️❤️ I’m always proud of you,” she wrote. “Some of the best years of my life have been cheering on and off the field for you! Ily”
Gronkowski poured his soul out in his retirement post on Instagram, describing in great detail why playing for the Bucs was a dream come true.
View this post on Instagram
“I want to thank the whole entire first class Buccaneers organization for an amazing ride, trusting me to come back to play and help build a championship team,” he wrote.
“I will now be going back into my retirement home, walking away from football again with my head held high knowing I gave it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field.
“The friendships and relationships I have made will last forever, and I appreciate every single one of my teammates and coaches for giving everything they had as well. From retirement, back to football and winning another championship and now back to chilling out, thank you to all.”
Gronkowski leaves behind a storied legacy. He has the most career touchdowns by a tight end in playoff history and comes in second to only Jerry Rice if you want remove positions from the equation.
He also has the most 100-yard outings at his position in NFL history, most total TDs in a single year by a tight end and 12th most career touchdowns in league history.
Now he is free to hang out with his girlfriend and chill.
Kostek has never been shy about her racy messages to Gronkowski before games, but surely she will find new ways to outwardly express her love for her beau.
A-Rod and his girl continue to impress. https://t.co/E1YjgvqQMk
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 21, 2022
What will this power couple ultimately get up to next?
Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
