Rob Gronkowski Claims He Was Joking Around About Having the Bucs' Playbook and We Don't Believe Him

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski, in his frothing excitement to return to the football field, might have inadvertently tipped people off to the fact that his spontaneous unretirement might have actually been planned weeks before it went down. Gronk said during an interview with Sage Steele that he had the Tampa Bay playbook for weeks before his trade.

But then he completely backtracked when he finally addressed the backlash, claiming that he was "joking around."

"I actually just received my team-issued Surface today from the Bucs and it’s still in the package," Gronkowski said on Twitter. "I’m pumped to open it one day hopefully soon and follow the arrows to learn where to run too. Gronk run, Gronk catch ball. No playbook needed."

Gronkowski was sort of trapped here, as admitting that he did have the playbook would have opened a whole different can of worms. Then again, it probably would have been better for Gronk if he got it weeks in advance considering Bruce Arians has one of the thickest, most complicated playbooks in all of football.

If we are to take Gronkowski for his word, those screaming for a tampering investigation are going to be severely let down. Then again, he did say he was done with football a year ago, so he might not be the most reliable guy out there.