After playing nine seasons with the New England Patriots, Rob Gronkowski was ready for a change.

It was a change of scenery and fresh start that led to the tight end coming out of retirement to join Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"As a player, you always want to see what it is like somewhere else," Gronkowski told Boston radio WEEI. "(I) thought of that before, definitely after playing nine years in the NFL and I also thought about it when I came out of retirement.

"This is an opportunity to go see what it's like somewhere else, to go see what it's like in the NFL on another squad. There's so many players that bounce around on so many different teams. I loved my time in New England, no doubt about it. But it was another opportunity that presented."