Raiders owner Mark Davis was at a WNBA playoff game on Saturday, so he wasn’t watching when UFC president Dana White joined Rob Gronkowski for the “GronkCast” of that night’s UFC fights.
Davis became aware of what was discussed during that event, however. White said that he worked to broker an agreement that would have brought Gronkowski and quarterback Tom Brady to Las Vegas for the 2020 season. White said it was “almost a done deal,” but that former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden “blew the deal up” and the two players wound up in Tampa instead.
When asked about White’s comments, Davis said he didn’t remember any particulars of an overture that would have landed the Raiders the two star players.
“I heard about [White’s comments],” Davis said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That was what — two to three years ago or something? I don’t know, man. Talk to Dana. I remember that Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay. That’s basically what I remember. I have no idea. Dana has the stories. I love Dana. He is a great, great promoter. Why would this make me upset? I was busy watching [the Raiders beat Miami 15-13] and the basketball game.”
One imagines that the owner of a football team with a chance to acquire players like Brady and Gronkowski would be aware of how things played out and Gronkowski confirmed the story during the telecast. Gruden did not respond to questions from the paper and there’s no mention of any attempt to contact former General Manager Mike Mayock about the story, so details about how things failed to materialize on the Raiders side will likely remain scarce for the time being.
