Patriots tight end and superstar Rob Gronkowski walked away from the game of football Sunday afternoon, after playing 9 seasons as one of the league’s premier players. Gronk finished his NFL career with nearly 8,000 receiving yards, 521 receptions, and 79 touchdowns, all while winning 3 super bowls. For all the games he has missed due to injury along with the rather short span of his career, these numbers are staggering.

Gronk was drafted 42nd overall in the 2010 NFL draft, after playing his college football at Arizona State. He is potentially one of the biggest steals in the history of the NFL draft, after TB12 of course. Predicting such dominance is nearly impossible, so we must give kudos to Bill Belichick.

Although Gronk is mainly seen as a massive wide receiver to most, we cannot forget his true identity. Gronk is a hog at heart, and his presence on the offensive line was just as dominating as his pass catching abilities. He was bigger, faster, and stronger than just about everyone.

As I sit here writing what feels like is an obituary to a loved one, I can only hope that Gronk decides one day that he still has something left in him. With Tom Brady’s career on the tail end it is not crazy to think Gronkowski could come back. Whether it be for one more year, or one more game. 

Regardless, Gronk has done more for New England than most. He has left a very respected career behind him and will most likely move onto even better things in the future. As the great Babe Ruth once stated, “Heroes get remembered, legends never die.”