As part of its UFC 278 coverage, ESPN+ has an alternate stream that features Rob Gronkowski. One guest on the alternate cast just revealed some shocking information about both Gronkowski and longtime teammate Tom Brady.
UFC President Dana White joined the cast, where he revealed that both Brady and Gronkowski almost ended up going to the Las Vegas Raiders instead of ultimately joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
“I worked to put a deal together for (Tom) Brady and (Rob) Gronkowski to come to the Raiders,” said White. “It was almost a done deal, and at the last minute (Jon) Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn’t want them. Brady was already looking at houses and it wasn’t being said yet that Gronkowski was coming. The Raiders would have had Brady and Gronkowski the year the Bucs won the Super Bowl.”
It seems to be a true story from White, as Gronkowski then went on to confirm that this was almost a possibility.
Brady and Gronkowski playing for Las Vegas instead of Tampa Bay would have altered the NFL world drastically, and many are shocked to hear that this almost happened.
White may be exaggerating how close this deal was to coming to fruition just a bit considering that then coach Jon Gruden wasn’t even on board with the decision, but it certainly makes you wonder, given that Brady was known to pursue a number of different options during the 2020 free agency period.
White is known to have extreme influence in Las Vegas, where the majority of UFC events take place at the UFC Apex, so there certainly could be some real validity to his statement.
History didn’t play out that way, but it certainly makes for an extremely interesting what-if scenario for NFL fans across the country.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.