Tom Brady's long-time team-mate caught 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after nine years with New England Patriots; the 31-year-old said: "I will be back playing football. I love the game of football"
Thursday 11 March 2021 07:27, UK
After teasing a return to football following a Super Bowl victory, tight end Rob Gronkowski told TMZ on Wednesday that he will play again in 2021.
"I'm back, man!" Gronkowski said. "I will be back playing football, man. I love the game of football. I loved playing last year. I had a great time."
Gronkowski, 31, caught 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after nine years in New England.
He snagged six balls for 67 yards and two touchdowns in the Bucs' Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gronkowski is scheduled to become a free agent, but he's expected to remain with the Bucs and quarterback Tom Brady in 2021.
The future Hall of Fame tight end has caught 566 passes for 8,484 yards and 86 touchdowns in his career.
Meanwhile, Brady's rookie card has sold for $1.32m (approx £953,757) in an online auction, the most ever paid for a football card.
The autographed 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket, one of only 100 such cards in the world, was purchased by James Park, a long-time Brady fan.
"I lived in Boston for 10 years and so am a huge fan of Brady. The last Super Bowl win was just a mind-blowing accomplishment," Park told ESPN.
"I've also had a love of collecting cards since I was a kid. Given Brady's uncontested status as 'GOAT' in football, this card is an important piece of sports history and of any collection."
The sale of the card, which is graded an eight for quality and 10 for the autograph, smashed the previous record for the most spent on a football card by nearly $500,000.
Last month, a buyer purchased an autographed 2017 National Treasures Patrick Mahomes card, one of only five believed to be in existence of that particular card, for $861,000, according to ESPN.
The card, which included a piece of Mahomes' jersey embedded in it, was graded a nine and was sold in an online auction.
That sale broke the previous record, which was held by another Brady card that sold for $555,988 in January.
