New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement Sunday, bringing to an end an impressive and dominant nine season career, which included three Super Bowl wins.
"It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far. I will be retiring from the game of football today," Gronkowski said on Instagram.
Quarterback and Patriots teammate Tom Brady led the tributes to his now former colleague by commenting on the post "Love u man!! The(Gronk)!! Couldn't be a better person or teammate!!!!"
Gronkowski has often hinted at what life might be like for him after his pro-football career came to an end, making no secret of his desire to start acting in Hollywood.
Another potential avenue would be for the 29-year-old to step into the wresting ring with World Wresting Entertainment (WWE), after a successful cameo at Wrestlemania in 2017.
Despite bringing his latest $54 million NFL contract to an end, Gronkowski revealed to CNBC's Make It series earlier this year that when it comes to his finances he just likes to "keep it simple."
Almost all of his salary has been kept in the bank, with the man known as "Gronk" choosing to live mostly off his endorsements, which include breakfast cereal Cheerios, laundry detergent Tide and Monster energy drink.
He also led the league in terms of playing incentives for his tight end position. His potential performance based add-ons on top of his $8 million a year basic salary totaled $11.5 million for hitting particular catching, receiving yards and touchdown targets for 2018.
Gronkowski ends his career having caught 521 passes for 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns in 115 games from 2010-18. Despite playing just nine seasons, he ranks ninth in NFL history among tight ends in receiving yards and tied for third in receiving touchdowns.