NFL legend Gronkowski leaves door ajar to comeback if Brady asks him – but there's a catch

Arguably the greatest Tight End in history, Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL following his latest Super Bowl win in February but has hinted he'd be open to reuniting with Tom Brady and the Patriots – with strings attached.

'Gronk' called time on a glittering nine-year career of both blocking for and catching passes from Tom Brady as the New England Patriots enjoyed the most successful spell in franchise history, but the toll paid for an outstanding career was a litany of injuries endured by the player who just turned 30 in May.

Replacing a player of that caliber is a tricky prospect for Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Rarely does a Tight End become so adept at both pass catching and blocking in the specialist environment of the National Football League, but Gronkowski's versatility allowed Belichick to disguise the nature of his play-calling due to uncertainty over how Gronkowski would operate in each play. 

But with no football to ravage his body since February, and no off-season training camp to navigate, Gronkowski appears to be not ruling out a return to Foxborough, telling NFL beat reporter Adam Schefter - albeit with tongue seemingly in cheek - that a new program of CBD treatment has remedied some of his aches.

"I'm going to be doing his treatments, getting his pliabilty," Gronk said of the infamous, meticulous nature of Brady's self-care as the best quarterback of all time enters his 43rd year.

"If he comes over and rubs some CBD [on] me, I'll feel twice as good and then I'll be ready to go."

Gronkowski says he was introduced to CBD as a topical cream to treat bruises he picked up and soon noticed what he considered to be very effective healing properties. But whether the CBD can minimize damage to his knees, hips (and almost all of his joints) after nearly a decade in the NFL is another story altogether.

While it is clear that Gronkowski is being jovial in his comments, several NFL analysts have stated that it is very much in the realm of possibility for him to reunite his partnership with Brady should the situation present itself, and if his body allows it.