Rob Gronkowski is enjoying retirement, for now.
The former New England Patriots tight end joined the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday and noted this is the first time in years he won't be working on a football field come August.
"Just been relaxing, traveling, seeing the family, just enjoying myself, man," Gronk said when asked what he's been doing since retiring. "You want to know something? I never had an August off in my life. So, it's gonna be a little different. That's when it's gonna start really seeing the change is when that comes around in August when I'm not in training camp; I might not know what to do with myself."
Gronk looks like a man not preparing for the rigors of the season, with his once-jacked frame diminishing down closer to normal-person size. Recent pictures of the former tight end looked like he had undergone a dramatic weight loss. After being listed at 268 pounds last season, Gronkowski told Eisen he's lost weight, but not as much as the picture suggests.
"I'm actually down to 250 right now ..." he said before addressing the picture. "It must've been the angle or the shirt that was on me. I ain't that skinny that the picture going around [shows]. I have definitely lost some weight. I've been 260 since I was 18 years old, from 260 to like 270. I just always wanted to see what it feels like to get down, to feel light, to feel loose."
Almost a 20-pound drop from his listed playing weight is significant. Gronk seems to be chasing Tom Brady's pliability over poundability method.
While Gronk doubled down on enjoying retirement, he didn't dismiss that the itch to return might pop up during the season.
"There's definitely going to be times when you miss it and everything," he said. "I would always say that it's still the offseason right now. I mean I can't really say how I'm going to feel about it when the games start rolling around and everything. You know, I just felt like it was time. I feel really good right now and it was just definitely something I felt like it was the right time and the right thing to do. To have that load off your back, I mean I've been playing football for 15 years straight in a row of that grind. Just relaxing right now feels good."
With that opening, Eisen decided to have a little fun with the ever-jovial Gronk.
The host role-played Brady asking the tight end if he would return.
"Thank you, I love you, I miss you, but I'm just relaxin', Tommy," Gronkowski replied chuckling.
There's no chance? Eisen prodded in his TB12 persona.
"Call me when you get to the playoffs," Gronk responded, giggling along.
While clearly Gronk was joking around with Eisen about any sort of return, that won't stop Pats fans from keeping their hearts open in case he changes his tune when the weather gets colder.
