The term “retirement papers” (possibly as a figure of speech) emerged last night in connection with Rob Gronkowski. And it’s true that he hasn’t put in his “retirement papers.”It’s also true Authentic Chase Winovich Jersey , as a league source with knowledge of the situation explained it to PFT, that the league no longer utilizes “retirement papers.”Previously, a player filed retirement papers in order to initiate his pension. Barry Sanders, for example, didn’t file his retirement papers for years Chase Winovich Jersey Boys , but he was clearly retired. Currently, the player’s pension rights are activated once a full year has elapsed since his last NFL employment.The fact remains that retirement isn’t irrevocable, even if “retirement papers” have been filed. It’s very easy to secure removal from the reserve/retired list, which is the place where a retired player’s rights are held.For Gronk, who was placed on the reserve/retired list before the opening of training camp Youth Julian Edelman Jerseys , he needs to simply inform the Commissioner of the desire to return before the Tuesday after Week 13. The Patriots then will have to decide whether to add him to the roster or release his rights.Earlier this week, coach Bill Belichick didn’t have a roster spot for tight end Ben Watson after the conclusion of his four-game PED suspension. If/when Gronk unretires, Belichick surely will find a spot for him. When Tom Brady had a good season last year at the age of 41, he was doing something exceedingly rare in the NFL, but not totally unprecedented: Warren Moon played pretty well at age 41 Julian Edelman Jerseys Stitched , and Vinny Testaverde and Brett Favre both had their moments after their 41st birthdays.But unless Brady gets hurt or totally falls off a cliff this year, Brady really will do something unprecedented.Brady will turn 42 in August, and that really is an age at which no quarterback has ever had even a mediocre NFL season. George Blanda threw six touchdowns as a 43-year-old in 1970, and that’s the most touchdowns any quarterback has ever thrown in a season after turning 42.Modern training and improved medicine may make it easier for quarterbacks to last longer in the NFL, so perhaps some of the quarterbacks who came along in the years after Brady — Drew Brees or Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger — could replicate his longevity. But more likely we’ll see in the years to come that Brady is simply an extreme outlier Youth Rob Gronkowski Jerseys , one who has played at a high level for longer than any other quarterback.