Patriots reporter says the team ‘tried to stop’ him from writing about Rob Gronkowski and the TB12 method
In the weeks following Super Bowl LII, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has become quite the question mark.
Despite his record-breaking performances on the field, the 28-year-old has reportedly been contemplating retiring from football as early as training camp this past season. The initial explanation was tied to concerns about Gronkowski’s physical health, but NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran reported Monday the two-time Super Bowl champion also “didn’t enjoy himself” last season.
“He seriously considered stepping away from the game in training camp,” Curran said on Monday’s edition of Boston Sports Tonight. “He kind of had it. At that point, his body wasn’t responding. He wanted to train a certain way. The team didn’t necessarily want him to train the way he wanted to train.”
Curran didn’t get into specifics on the disagreement, but Patriots beat reporter Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal said what was reported is “true.” Daniels also shared an interesting tidbit from his own experience working with Gronkowski and the team this season.
“That’s true,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Patriots also didn’t want me to write a story on Gronk doing the TB12 diet and working with Guerrero.”
Gronkowski is one of several Patriots who follows Tom Brady’s TB12 method. At the beginning of May, he started visiting trainer Alex Guerrero and the TB12 Sports Therapy Center regularly throughout the offseason. In December, however, head coach Bill Belichick reportedly reduced Guerrero’s access to the team and prohibited players other than Brady from being treated at Guerrero’s office at Gillette Stadium.
Prior to the AFC Championship game, the Providence Journal published Daniels’s story titled “TB12 method pays off for Gronkowski this season.” According to Daniels, however, the Patriots “tried to stop” him from writing the story.
“Gronk agreed to talk to me about his new diet and when the Pats found out, they told me it couldn’t happen,” he wrote on Twitter. “But since Gronk really wanted to talk about it, he did. In the end, I still got a 1400-word feature out of it, but it was annoying how the Pats tried to stop the story.”
Gronk agreed to talk to me about his new diet and when the Pats found out, they told me it couldn’t happen. But since Gronk really wanted to talk about it, he did. In the end, I still got a 1400-word feature out of it, but it was annoying how the Pats tried to stop the story.
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) February 27, 2018
When asked about the tweets, a team spokesperson told Boston.com the Patriots have “a long-standing policy that players do not provide details on their training regimen.” The spokesperson said the hesitation toward Daniels’s story had nothing to do with Gronkowski or the TB12 method.
It should be noted that Brady has heavily promoted his exercise and eating habits through his performance guide and docu-series.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald, who broke the initial news of Gronkowski following the TB12 method in July, said “there was no involvement of the team” when she published her story.
“The only parties involved were Rob and Alex,” she told Boston.com in an email. “But it was heavily geared toward Rob, and his thoughts. At the time, I didn’t feel the need to speak with anyone from the Patriots. Rob was adopting Tom’s training regimen and why he felt the need.”
Gronkowski has not commented on the reports since his Super Bowl postgame press conference.
