Mike Freeman - Gronk comeback?

Zuma said:

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AndyJohnson said:

Well regardless, we would be better with him than without him.

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1960Pats said:

His arm and knee injuries were the result of NYFL hits but he was drafted with a back injury. Early on he had a bad habit of diving over players and going too far over and landing awkwardly. He did one of those in a game (don't remember which) and when he landed I thought he broke his neck. He definitely came up a little wobbly.

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patfanken said:

He's NOT coming back. Get over it. What more do you need to hear. He has stated it in a compelling manner SEVERAL times. Quotes from multiple sources among is entourage have said it. Then you hear about a possible impending back procedure, PLUS if you just took a look at him from the charity event this week, he looks like he's already dropped about 25 lbs of muscle this off season. He looks positively skinny. So it's not just what you are hearing, you have to consider what you SEE!

If you want to dream about Gronk coming back, you'd be better off hoping for a 2020 reunion than one happening THIS season, because that ship has sailed.

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Kenneth Sims said:

Earlier this offseason I posted Greg Bedard’s reporting in the BSJ that “most involved” in the Brady extension discussions didn’t believe the deal couldn’t be finalized until a year had passed since his last redo in August 2018.

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Gronk said:

I hope he never comes back just because I would feel horrible if he had been through it all, retired on top, got a little bored or whatever, and then came back and injured himself worse.

He could get surgery again, rehab, and even if he’s a bit slower he could dominate as an in-line blocker or decoy who enjoys more limited targets but still makes big plays (this is kind of what he was last year anyway)...but knowing he already made the choice to walk away, that kinda means he could never be 100% all-in, and that’s ok. The dudes body has been through a war in football that many others would have given up on long ago. We’ll miss him, TB will miss him, and I’m sure he’ll miss the games, but when you’re done you’re done.

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luuked said:

To be fair we have known about the rule long before Bedard's "reporting" on it.

But your overall point still stands that people need to realize that their opinion is meaningless in the face of facts.

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DarrylS said:

Once again what are the odds that he took HGH or some form of PED's post retirement to ease his pain and discomfort, comparable to Ben Watson??

If he did follow this path he would probably be suspended anyways when he was reinstated.. IMO the ship with Gronk on it has sailed. Sounds a lot like wishful thinking..

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Kenneth Sims said:

Reading this thread has led me to doing some thinking about the state of journalism in 2019. Very few of the responses have actually been about Freeman’s article. Most have been a rehash of our opinions as to whether Gronk will unretire or whether he should.

Maybe, in our minds, we are now conditioned to see any media post as being an opinion piece rather than old fashioned reporting. Or maybe, we just see any attempt at reporting as made up internet nonsense and dismiss it as such. I don’t know which it is, but, by the responses in this thread, most just ignored the reporting that there is a belief in the Patriots front office that Gronk will come out of retirement.

This is not the first time I’ve noticed this on the board. Earlier this offseason I posted Greg Bedard’s reporting in the BSJ that “most involved” in the Brady extension discussions didn’t believe the deal couldn’t be finalized until a year had passed since his last redo in August 2018. Some posters vociferously disagreed with my opinion. It wasn’t an opinion people. It was Bedard’s reporting, and it’s looking pretty accurate at this point.

Like Bedard, I’m pretty sure Mike Freeman sees himself as a journalist not a gossip purveyor. The man has been been in the business 30 years and worked for The NY Times and Washington Post when that meant something. It’s a shame so many have just come to ignore all reporting as just gossip based opinion. It’s an even bigger shame we all got too cheap to pay for journalism meant to bring us the truth because we paid for it and professional integrity demanded it and settled for often sensational, opinionated lies that get the clicks the sponsors want.

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DarrylS said:

Once again what are the odds that he took HGH or some form of PED's post retirement to ease his pain and discomfort, comparable to Ben Watson??

If he did follow this path he would probably be suspended anyways when he was reinstated.. IMO the ship with Gronk on it has sailed. Sounds a lot like wishful thinking..

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supafly said:

What if (hypothetically speaking, of course) he took HGH or whatever to help him heal a bit, and then returned in a year or so from now? He wouldn’t be getting tested until reinstatement, so there shouldn’t be a concern.

In Watson’s case, didn’t he wait a little while before announcing his retirement, officially, which is why he was still tested? I’m pretty sure he waited a little while to see what the market brought during free agency and it’s right around that time when he was popped.

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varjao said:

I keep my initial prediction that it's a year off. If he feels completely healthy next year there's a chance he comes back for a 2 year deal worth of 20Mi and closes the chapter with Brady and Edelman.

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stinkypete said:

There are rarely facts in NFL reporting, only rumor, and confirmation of rumor.

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PP2 said:

IMO, the decline in reporting started in 1987 when the Fairness Doctrine policy was eliminated, and got worse when it was completely removed in 2011. Although it concerns broadcasting, it's not hard to imagine how it affected news reporting in general.

Today, a great deal of news resembles the infamous "doublespeak" we read about in Orwell's prescient "1984" novel.

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Kenneth Sims said:

Reading this thread has led me to doing some thinking about the state of journalism in 2019. Very few of the responses have actually been about Freeman’s article. Most have been a rehash of our opinions as to whether Gronk will unretire or whether he should.

Maybe, in our minds, we are now conditioned to see any media post as being an opinion piece rather than old fashioned reporting. Or maybe, we just see any attempt at reporting as made up internet nonsense and dismiss it as such. I don’t know which it is, but, by the responses in this thread, most just ignored the reporting that there is a belief in the Patriots front office that Gronk will come out of retirement.

This is not the first time I’ve noticed this on the board. Earlier this offseason I posted Greg Bedard’s reporting in the BSJ that “most involved” in the Brady extension discussions didn’t believe the deal couldn’t be finalized until a year had passed since his last redo in August 2018. Some posters vociferously disagreed with my opinion. It wasn’t an opinion people. It was Bedard’s reporting, and it’s looking pretty accurate at this point.

Like Bedard, I’m pretty sure Mike Freeman sees himself as a journalist not a gossip purveyor. The man has been been in the business 30 years and worked for The NY Times and Washington Post when that meant something. It’s a shame so many have just come to ignore all reporting as just gossip based opinion. It’s an even bigger shame we all got too cheap to pay for journalism meant to bring us the truth because we paid for it and professional integrity demanded it and settled for often sensational, opinionated lies that get the clicks the sponsors want.

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