Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow apparently tried to recruit legendary NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski to the Bengals following Gronk's retirement, but a miscommunication prevented the pair from ever connecting.
Joe Burrow wanted Rob Gronkowski to play for the Bengals
During a recent episode of the Dudes on Dudes podcast, Gronkowski explained how his distrust of receiving messages from random numbers due to being fooled previously led him to ignoring a message from Burrow after he had publicly praised the Bengals quarterback.
Here's some of what Gronk said about the situation:
"Like, after I retired, everyone's still trying to get me to play. You know, ask me questions in the media when I had to do some media rounds, like, 'Yo, who is the quarterback that you would love to play with? I'm like, 'Joe Burrow because he reminds me of (tom) Brady, and I just love the way that he presents himself in the pocket.'
" went everywhere, and I got a text message, 'Yo, bro, what's up man, I saw you talking about me in the media. It's Joe Burrow. I would love for you if you came to the Cincinnati Bengals.' I was like, I ain't getting got again, this is nuts. I ain't falling for this."
More Cincinnati Bengals news: NFL coaches reportedly inquiring about Zac Taylor's job security with Bengals
It wasn't until last summer when Gronkowski ran into Burrow at a pair that he realized that the text he received actually was from Burrow.
"I'm at the white party this year," Gronkowski said. "I go up to him, I walk right by. I'm like, 'What up, Joe? Nice to meet you.' And then, within like 10 seconds, he's like, 'Yo, you never responded to me. And I knew exactly what he was talking about. And I was like, 'No freaking way that was actually you, bro? I'm sorry, I apologize.'"
Fool Gronk once, shame on you, fool Gronk twice… you get ghosted, sorry @JoeyB pic.twitter.com/nTxjCvGe37
— DudesOnDudes (@DudesOnDudesPod) December 5, 2024
Talk about a missed opportunity. Obviously, even if Gronkowski had answered the text from Burrow, there's no guarantee that would have led to him signing in Cincinnati, but it's certainly fun to speculate about.
It's also nice to hear that the typically reserved Burrow has been proactive about recruiting outside talent to Cincinnati, even if his messages go unanswered.
"I think I've done a pretty good job of that so far," Burrow said of his recruiting efforts this week, via Sports Illustrated. "I think more so knowing the more experience that I have, the more I understand, like who fits into our system, who would work well with us, and less the recruiting part, and more, you know, understanding the kind of guys that we want to go after in those departments."
After an underwhelming 2024 campaign, the Bengals could certainly use some upgrades over the offseason, so hopefully Burrow will be able to successfully put his recruiting skills to work.