New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski had a very sobering message about the high costs of playing football late Wednesday.
Gronkowski said the following in part when discussing the physical toll football takes on players, according to Yahoo Sports:
You can take some serious hits. To tell you the truth, just try and imagine getting hit all the time and trying to be where you want to be every day in life. It’s tough, it’s difficult. To take hits to the thigh, take hits to your head. Abusing your body isn’t what your brain wants. When your body is abused, it can bring down your mood. You’ve got to be able to deal with that, too, throughout the season. You gotta be able to deal with that in the games. And no one realizes that, and everyone expects us players to be wide awake every single day, and it’s like ‘yo, i just took 50 hits to my head — or not to my head, but I’m saying I just took 50 collisions, and then like the next day everyone wants you to be up.
These comments coming from Gronk really shouldn’t surprise anybody. It’s not a secret at all that he’s toyed with the idea of retiring, despite the fact he’s not even 30 years old.
He’s also not committed to returning next season. Clearly, he takes his health very seriously, and it sounds like he’s had just about enough of getting hit all the time. (RELATED: The Patriots Will Face The Rams In The Super Bowl)
I can’t blame the man. Sure, Gronk is making lots of money, but he’s also constantly hurt. At some point, you have to step back and ask if it’s worth it.
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No matter what Gronkowski does, you have to give him major props for being so open and honest about the toll the sport has taken on him.
I feel like a lot of players either don’t talk about it or are afraid to just be open about the risks.
It sounds like he has a very big decision on the horizon after the Super Bowl against the Rams. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see him hang it up.
At this point, it almost seems like the writing is on the wall.