Our first guest is considered to be one of the greatest
tight ends of all time, and I'm not
talking about Channing Tatum.
He's a three-time Super Bowl champion
who recently came out of retirement
to join his former teammate Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
Please welcome Rob Gronkowski.
[CLAPPING]
Yes!
Hey, Ellen, how you doing?
The Gronk!
I'm good.
Happy birthday to you!
Appreciate it.
I was actually born on Mother's Day,
which is something special.
So I'm always my mother's gift every Mother's Day.
And also, being with my mother is my gift on my birthday.
So it's been a great day.
That's so sweet.
That's so great.
So are you going to do something special to celebrate,
or are you just hanging out?
You know, we're just hanging out.
We're planning on going on the boat in a little bit.
She lives on a very nice lake, and we go on those little party
boats that go, like, 15 miles per hour throughout the waters.
So we just love to go out and cruise--
look at the fish-- look at the alligators.
That's really what's planned.
You know, it's a low key birthday right now,
so it's always good to have those.
And where are you, exactly?
I'm in Fort Myers--
Fort Myers, Florida.
My mother has lived there for about 10 years now,
so I'm down here right now quarantining with my mother
and just celebrating Mother's Day with her--
celebrating birthday--
my birthday.
So it's been a long week.
It's been a great week.
So that must be easy for you to make that choice
to go to Tampa Bay when your mom lives there.
So now you're going to be living closer to her.
Yes, of course!
You know, everyone keeps asking me, did Tom get you to Tampa?
Well, of course it didn't hurt that Tom went to Tampa.
And the opportunity to go to Tampa was there, too.
But Tom was like the appetite, and then there
was a few other reasons--
I love the weather.
But the main course-- the main reason
why I came down here to Tampa to play
is because my mother lives two hours away.
She can get to all of my games--
all eight of our home games.
Whenever I have days off, she's two hours down the street,
and I get to see her.
So she's super excited.
I'm-- oh!
Hey, mom!
Hey!
[LAUGHS]
Hello, Mom.
Happy birthday!
Yes.
[LAUGHS]
There she is.
That's so sweet.
So now, you didn't have much of a retirement.
I mean, I think that was along par of Cher's retirement,
and I don't know who else said they were retiring
and never did.
But were you really planning on not playing again?
What changed your mind?
You know, at the time--
when I retired- I definitely felt
like it was the right decision.
I definitely needed a break from the game.
I've talked about it many times.
I mean, I played football for 15,
16 years straight and on top of it other sports
throughout my high school career and on top of it always
competing on and off the field.
So I just feel like my body needed a little rest.
And I wasn't sure if I was ever going
to get back into football or not at the time.
But my body healed up.
You know, I took a lot of time to focus on the body--
focus on abilities to heal.
You know, I've had nine surgeries throughout my career,
too-- took a lot of big hits.
You're playing the game of football, let me tell you,
you're getting smacked every play
whether it 280-pounders on the defensive line
or you're getting to smack by a safety
whenever you're not looking and you're catching a pass.
So my body needed a break.
It healed up, and I feel rejuvenated.
My energy is back.
I'm super excited get back on the field,
and I feel like I'm ready to go.
Wow.
Well, I'm excited.
I'm happy to see you play again.
But yeah, it looks like it hurts every single time you get hit.
It's a rough game.
But now, you're going to play, but there's not
going to be fans?
I mean, they've already announced dates.
You're playing the Saints first.
That's going to be a tough one for me, Rob.
Sorry, but Drew Brees is my friend.
But I'm really excited about that game.
But how is that going to work?
There's not going to be fans in the stands.
I'm not really sure.
It's only May right now.
I'm hoping everything gets uplifted.
Well, first off, I'm just hoping that there is football.
If the season gets delayed--
no matter what happens--
I just hope there's football at some time.
You know, everyone loves the game of football.
America loves the game of football.
I love the game of football.
So I'm just hoping that there's football.
And I'm just ready to compete again,
so if football happens and I'm fortunate to get out
on the field and there's no fans, then that's all right.
I mean, I know everyone's going to be at home watching.
So you'll have to channel that inner energy,
knowing that everyone's at home watching the game still--
betting huge on the games.
Because that's what a lot of people love to do--
bet on their favorite teams versus their friends
and everything.
So just super excited-- you got to channel that energy in,
knowing that they're watching from home and just
know that you're out on the field
loving what you do and just enjoy it,
even if there's no fans out there.
Oh, I guarantee you, that adrenaline
starts running through your body when someone's
about to pounce on you-- you're going to have that energy.
You know, I mean, I know the fans
create a lot of energy for you guys,
but I can't imagine you not having that adrenaline.
Since you've retired, this is your retirement--
you won a championship belt in WWE.
You competed on Masked Singer.
First of all, what was that like-- being on The Masked
Singer?
The Masked Singer was special.
I've always wanted to sing and dance.
I've always thought singers and dancers were spectacular.
I always loved watching them.
I loved watching artists perform.
And this was my chance to be able to do that type of stuff,
you know?
I knew I wasn't going to be that great at it,
but I knew if you practiced and practiced that you
can get better and better.
And it was just becoming like a hobby.
It was just becoming fun.
And let me tell you, it's difficult.
I have so much respect for those artists-- for those dancers
out there-- because you got to practice.
You got to practice and get that routine down at all times.
You've got to be on the same page with your backup dancers
and everything.
So much respect-- much respect to the artists out there
that are in that industry.
But it was a blast.
And let me tell you, it took me five hours
to learn my first song, Ellen.
It took me five hours, and then after that, I
started picking up more and more.
And having that mask on, I was sweating--
literally sweating while performing.
But that adrenaline rush was like getting hit.
It was like getting hit.
There's some TikTok videos. you and your girlfriend--
by the way, you have some good moves-- but you
and your girlfriend are doing these TikTok videos.
Does she make you do these?
Or is this something that you make her do?
You know, she makes me do it.
Every once in a while, I'm in that mode where I'm like,
oh, let's do a TikTok video.
But yeah, she makes me do them.
But let me tell you this-- once we get started,
I love to do them.
Yeah.
No, you're good.
You're really good!
Thank you.
You've been doing a lot to raise money for COVID-19 relief
efforts, and I was able to get one of your jerseys.
So what I would like to do, if you will allow me--
I'm going to send it to you to sign,
and then we're going to auction it off on our website
and donate all of the money to the COVID-19 relief.
Does that sound good?
Yeah, that sounds great.
I love the idea.
All right.
I'm sending it to you, and then we'll get it on the website.
And then we're going to take a break.
When we come back, we're going to play a game with Rob.
We'll be back.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos--
like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,
like ball peen hammer.
And also some videos of Ellen and other celebrities,
if you're into that sort of thing.
Yah!
Aw, [BLEEP]!
God [BLEEP] it!