Not long after agent Drew Rosenhaus told NFL Media's Albert Breer that Rob Gronkowski had been cleared to play Sunday by doctors, the New England Patriots tight end took to YouTube to trumpet his return.
In a featurette not sponsored by the team, but by BODYARMOR SuperDrink, Gronk shared exclusive footage of his rehab from back and multiple forearm surgeries and spoke more openly than he has in months.
"I feel so much better than I have in the past few weeks; compared to last week right now at this time, I feel great," Gronkowski said. "... You might think that we just show up and play on Sundays, but there's so much behind the scenes ... that goes on before you can get back out on the field."
In the video, his words flow over images of a melancholy Gronkowski nestled on his couch and wandering alone through the empty Patriots locker room. This gives way to a montage borrowing liberally from "Rocky," showing Gronk pounding weights and sweating profusely. Sylvester Stallone he's not, but the heavy-handed music helps.
"It's going to be a great feeling to run back out there through that tunnel and get back out there with them," Gronkowski tells the camera, before the whole thing melts into a still image of a drink product peddled by BODYARMOR above the hashtag #BackToSuper.
Probably not how the Patriots wanted this to play out, but he's back, and that's all that matters to the people of New England.
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