Rob Gronkowski’s mother on his potential retirement: ‘You’ll probably know before me’
The matriarch of Gronk Nation just wants a simple 'Hello' on TV every so often.
ATLANTA — There’s one thing Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowki’s mother, Diane Walters, would like her son to learn from Tom Brady.
“Say, ‘Hi Mom,'” Walters told ‘Today’ show anchor Sheinelle Jones in the latest edition of a video series called ‘Through Mom’s Eyes.’ “After every interview at the end of the game, Tom Brady says, ‘Hi Mom! Hi Mom!’ Every once in awhile I see Rob up there and I’m like, ‘OK, he’s going to say, ‘Hi Mom,’ and then they’re like, ‘OK, thanks Rob,’ and he’s like, ‘OK, thanks,’ and he walks away.
“I’m like, ‘Where’s the ‘Hi Mom’?'”
It didn’t take long for Gronkowski to heed his mother’s wishes. During his media availability at the team hotel on Thursday, the 29-year-old happily waved to the cameras and delivered the long-awaited greeting for Walters.
It seems like the least Gronkowski can do his mother, who raised him along with his four brothers outside of Buffalo, N.Y. With 10 years separating the youngest and the oldest, the five boys certainly kept Walters busy with their sports schedules, appetites, and general commotion.
“It was a lot of work, and it was no sleep,” Walters said. “Because you’re so exhausted, it’s just a blur. Sometimes you even forget, ‘Did I take a shower this morning?’ Like you really have to think about it.”
Although the demands of stocking up on 40 pounds of chicken breast and divvying up attention carried quite the load, Walters admitted she actually misses having her boys around.
“It’s tough,” she said. “My whole life was them. 100 percent. … They’re each in such demand now, they don’t have the time to come and see Mom very often.”
Walters said it’s “a dream come true” to see Gronkowski have such a successful career with the Patriots. One of Brady’s favorite targets, Gronkowski will play in his fourth Super Bowl on Sunday. (He missed Super Bowl LI due to injury.) There’s some speculation the game could be his last, but Walters insisted she doesn’t have any insider knowledge.
“You’ll probably know before me,” she joked.
