There’s an iconic quote from The Godfather III where Al Pacino’s character, Michael Corleone, says “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Rob Gronkowski may have thought he was done for good in the NFL, but the competitive juices came flowing again after a year away and he was pulled back in to the game of football.

Gronkowski ultimately could have decided to play anywhere as long as the Patriots were okay with the compensation in return. We know he wanted to reunite with Tom Brady, but the opportunity to thrive in an already explosive Bucs’ offense was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

“I thought it was a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass on,” Gronkowski said while appearing on the Tiki and Tierney Show. “It’s just going to be fun, it’s going to be cool. I wasn’t just going to come back out of retirement just to come back out of retirement. Everything had to play, everything had to lay out on the table and there were many situations, which that was. Definitely one of them was Tom going down to Tampa.”

The one year retirement didn’t mean that he wasn’t he keeping busy. Gronkowski stayed in shape by doing various workouts and playing other sports that he enjoyed, so when he decided to come back and play football again, the only sport that Gronkwoski hadn’t been playing in that time was, well, football.

“I think I did every other sport besides football. I did every other exercise besides football. You name the sport, I was doing it. I love to compete, I love sports, I’m an all around athlete I would say. I just enjoy all types of sports, so when I got away from football I stayed super busy. Then the transition came when I decided to come back to football. I really hadn’t played when I decided to come back to football, I touched a football two times total.”

You can listen to the full interview with Gronkowski here.