Sean Payton Takes to Twitter to Recruit Retired TE Rob Gronkowski

Legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski is enjoying the fruits of retirement. But in the wake of Sean Payton's tongue-in-cheek social media recruitment of 'Gronk,' it's worth noting that the tight end is only 33 years old.

Gronkowski is now at FOX Sports, where Payton hung his hat last year as an analyst in between coaching the New Orleans Saints and now the Denver Broncos. With all the media hoopla leading up to the Super Bowl, both Payton and Gronkowski have been making the rounds this weekend.

Payton made some waves by posting this tweet, which he concluded by typing, "Let the recruitment begin!"

@Broncos @RobGronkowski @TomBrady @NFLonFOX
Let the recruitment begin! pic.twitter.com/2upP9h8qsx
— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) February 11, 2023

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How serious is Payton? Well, if Gronkowski were actually interested in returning to the NFL, I'd wager that Payton would be very serious about actually recruiting him to Denver, especially now that Tom Brady has hung up his cleats.

Gronkowski retired from the NFL for the first time following the 2019 season. When Brady landed in Tampa Bay, he managed to entice his favorite target in New England back into wanting to play, and the Buccaneers orchestrated a trade to acquire him from the Patriots.

That Brady/Gronk Bucs team went on to win the Super Bowl that year. Gronkowski returned for 2021, but after dealing with some injury misfortune, he retired for good last summer.

As much as Broncos Country would love to fantasize about Gronk lacin' 'em back up and donning the Orange and Blue, more than anything, Payton's tweet is nothing but a good-natured tribute to a former FOX colleague and a player he obviously held in very high regard.

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