Is Rob Gronkowski Just 'Having Fun,' Or Is He Trying To Get Himself Traded From Patriots?

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- When Rob Gronkowski stepped to the podium wearing a motorcycle helmet and goggles on Saturday at Gillette Stadium, nobody was really sure what to make of it. Was he trying to get himself traded from the Patriots? Was he brazenly waging war with Bill Belichick amid an offseason of turmoil? Or was he literally just being a goofball for the sake of being a goofball?

With Gronkowski, you never can fully know. But according to a new report from Jeff Howe at The Athletic, the latter possibility appears to be the overriding inspiration.

"Gronk has told members of his inner circle that he has stayed away from the voluntary portion of the offseason workout program because he is happy living life, having fun and generally just taking a little extra time away to do his own thing, according to a source," Howe wrote (via Larry Brown Sports). "The chance to mess around during the Foxboro Supercross stop was just one example of that."

As Howe put it: "Gronk needs time to Gronk."

That may help explain the 28-year-old's line of thinking before he openly laughed at the idea of participating in the Patriots' offseason training program. Or it may not. It's been hard to decipher much of anything this offseason.

At least one Patriots reporter -- Mike Giardi of NBC Sports Boston -- believed Gronkowski's shenanigans on Saturday was an indication that Gronkowski wants to get traded.

Yahoo's Dan Wetzel also wrote that if Gronkowski were trying to get shipped away from Foxboro, then we all witnessed what it would have looked like.

"Put it this way, if – IF – Gronk wants to get traded, then other than demanding to be dealt or trashing the Patriots, this would have been about the best way to accomplishing the goal," Wetzel wrote.

These may seem like extreme conclusions to draw from something as harmless as a motocross promotion, but there have been examples of Patriots players publicly separating themselves from the "Patriot Way" and then shortly thereafter being sent packing. After a Week 1 win in 2010, Randy Moss held a self-serving press conference about the lack of appreciation he felt from Belichick; he was traded to Minnesota three weeks later. In December of 2009, Adalius Thomas expressed frustration for being treated like a "kindergartner" when Belichick sent him home after showing up late due to snowy conditions; he'd play his final game for the Patriots -- and as an NFL player -- a month later. Logan Mankins stated in June 2010 that he wanted to be traded; it took a while, but he was eventually granted his wish.

Does a goofy press conference about dirt bike riding rise to that level? Probably not. And, hey, considering it involved completely messing with the media, there's a chance that in a private moment, Belichick even let slip a wry smile in a proud father type of way. However, the fact that it took place just steps away from the voluntary workouts that the team captain has opted to skip is sure to ruffle a feather or two in Foxboro.

Maybe Gronkowski is indeed just having a little bit of fun and doing "his own thing." A player who endures the physical beating that Gronkowski does is certainly not wrong to prioritize himself when he can. But how that attitude is interpreted and handled by Belichick will ultimately come to define the current offseason and the future going forward with -- or without -- Gronkowski on board with the Patriots.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

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