Rob Gronkowski accidentally left Joe Burrow hanging when the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback reached out to him a few years ago about potentially teaming up together.
Gronkowski shared the story on his "Dudes on Dudes" podcast with former teammate Julian Edelman, explaining how Burrow sent him a text after he named the former No. 1 overall pick as the only quarterback he'd want to play with besides Tom Brady in 2022. However, Gronkowski had been fooled before by an unknown phone number and was determined not to let it happen again.
"When Malcom Brown was drafted to the (New England) Patriots, I got a text message that night, the night of the draft, and it was like, 'Hey Rob, it's Malcom Brown, pleasure to be on your team. It's an honor to be your teammate,'" Gronkowski recalled. "And I wrote back, like, 'Man, great to have you on,' and then, eventually, that night called the number, and it was not Malcom Brown.
"So I got duped. It was just a random fan, and they duped me to answer back. Fast-forward, I was like, I ain't ever gonna let that shit happen to me ever again. I ain't answering random numbers."
After Gronkowski's quote about playing with Burrow made the rounds, he received a recruitment pitch from an unknown number.
"I get a text message, 'Yo, Gronk, 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 shit."
He later learned it was Burrow who had texted him after they ran into each other at Michael Rubin's annual Fourth of July white party in the Hamptons.
Gronkowski initially retired from the NFL in 2019 and then called it quits a second time following the 2021-22 season.
