“I think Gronk might want to come out of retirement” - New book reveals how Tom Brady led Buccaneers' recruitment of Rob Gronkowski

Tom Brady said only a few, but magical and powerful, words to convince the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to sign then-retired tight end Rob Gronkowski.

"Hey, I think Gronk might want to come out of retirement."

According to sports journalist Lars Anderson, in his new book A Season in the Sun: Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Inside Story of the Making of a Champion, Brady said those words over a phone call to head coach Bruce Arians and Bucs general manager Jason Licht. Brady's long-time agent, Don Yee, was also on the call.

The call was to sell Brady to the Bucs, who at the time, made it clear he wanted to breathe different airs than the one he got used to after 20 years in Massachusetts with the New England Patriots.

Arians promptly answered:

"Let's get you signed up first, and then we'll work on that one."

Being true to his word, Arians and Licht announced they had signed Gronk almost a month after making a similar announcement involving Brady.

That was the beginning of a beautiful and magical season that would end with Arians winning his first Super Bowl as head coach. Meanwhile, Gronk celebrated his fourth championship, and Brady commemorated his tying-record seventh NFL title.

Brady and Gronk special connection

Initially, things were not as smooth as everyone desired them to be. Brady was learning a new playbook for the first time in over 20 years, Gronk was rusty due to his year-long retirement, and Arians was running things as he had always run.

It was only after the bye week, an hour-long phone call between Brady and Arians, that water turned into wine.

"After the bye week, the offense's play-action and motion rates spiked. Over the final four weeks of the season, the play-action rate rose seven percentage points—the fourth-largest increase in that span—and the motion rate rose ten percentage points. Tampa Bay's efficiency didn't suffer, either. In fact, no team averaged more yards on play-action passes or motion plays. And in the Super Bowl, the Buccaneers relied on play-action and motion, even more, using play-action on nearly half of Brady's dropbacks and motion on about three-quarters of all plays. The Buccaneers didn't go from inconsistent to invincible because 'things just clicked.' They went from inconsistent to invincible because they leaned into their strengths. So, rest of the NFL, there's your winning formula: Sign Tom Brady and do more of the things you do well."

Brady and Gronk's connections in the Super Bowl were stronger than ever. With the tight end receiving two of the three touchdowns that Brady threw.

Since coming out of retirement, Gronk has had 11 touchdowns in the regular season, four this year. And two in the playoffs.

The two Super Bowl touchdowns also made the Brady-Gronk duo the most successful for touchdowns by the same two players.

Brady said few words, but they were unquestionably powerful and magical.

---