Look: Rob Gronkowski Had Notable Omission In His Announcement

For the second time this year, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers standout who previously starred for the New England Patriots left the AFC East team out of his retirement announcement.  

First, it was Tom Brady back in February. Then, it was Rob Gronkowski on Tuesday. In Gronk's lengthy retirement statement, he failed to mention the Patriots franchise or head coach Bill Belichick.

Like when Brady omitted the Pats a few months ago, some New England fans are not happy with Gronkowski. But, also like with Brady's "retirement" announcement, perhaps there is a reasonable explanation.

After all, when Gronkowski retired for the first time following the 2018 campaign, he thanked the Patriots in his announcement after spending nine seasons with the organization.

"I am so grateful for the opportunity that Mr. Kraft and Coach Belichick gave to me when drafting my silliness in 2010. My life experiences over the last 9 years have been amazing both on and off the field. The people I have meet, the relationships I have built, the championships I have been apart of, I just want to thank the whole New England Patriots organization for every opportunity I have been giving and learning the great values of life that I can apply to mine.

"Thank you to all of Pats Nation around the world for the incredible support since I have been apart of this 1st class organization. Thank you for everyone accepting who I am and the dedication I have put into my work to be the best player I could be. But now its time to move forward and move forward with a big smile knowing that the New England Patriots Organization, Pats Nation, and all my fans will be truly a big part of my heart for rest of my life.

"It was truly an incredible honor to play for such a great established organization and able to come in to continue and contribute to keep building success. To all my current and past teammates, thank you for making each team every year special to be apart of. I will truly miss you guys. Cheers to all who have been part of this journey, cheers to the past for the incredible memories, and a HUGE cheers to the uncertain of what's next."

This time around, he stuck to expressing his appreciation for the Bucs, even mentioning that he picked the franchise as his ideal NFL destination for a writing assignment in college. 

"So I wrote that I wanted to play in Tampa for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for many reasons, the sunny weather being #1," Gronkowski said. "I completely forgot about writing this report until 2 years ago when I had the opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And let me tell ya, the journey in Tampa over the last 2 years has blown away what I originally wrote about in college, big time."

Patriots fans can also take some solace in the fact that many people think Gronkowski is eventually going to unretire again.

If he does, maybe he'll mention New England in his third retirement announcement some day.