Rob Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski
Robert Paxton Gronkowski, nicknamed "Gronk," is an American football tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Raised in Williamsville, New York, he played college football at Arizona, winning several awards, including being named The Sporting News freshman All-American, Rivals.com freshman All-American, The Sporting News freshman Pac-10, as well as being named to the watchlist for the Lombardi Award...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth14 May 1989
CityAmherst, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We go out to practice every single day and we have fun out there, but at the same time, we're getting work done. We're going hard. If it's reps for the scout team, we're giving them good reps. If we're getting reps for the first team as a tight end group as a whole, we try and go out there and put our best out there as a group effort.
You have to give it to the Packers. They are a good team. They have a great offense and a great defense.
It's cool. You can laugh about it, but at the same time you can't really get caught up in it because you're here for a job and it's to win football games. Being on this team, being with the head coach here and the quarterback we have keeps you humble. It keeps you hard working. You can laugh and giggle about stuff, but then at the same time you've got to make sure you're prepared and practicing hard still.
To this day, I still haven't touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven't blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry, or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.
You have no confidence when you come out of surgery because you can't really do anything. You're like, 'Man, am I ever going to heal?'
As time goes on you're getting more knowledge of your playbook and football, and you just pick it up a lot easier. Lining up everywhere is just second nature to me now.
You can't do it all. You get many requests all the time, but I still have to focus on football, still have to live my life a little bit. But there are definitely times during the week when you want to take time out.
I was running super slow. Chris thought I was done. Then one day at the end of February, I woke up and my body felt good. I was just so happy. I was faster than my brother again. I got all my moves back. I told him, 'Brother, I'm back, and now you're done!'
Just follow the rules. Always have a designated driver. Don't be doing anything to make someone mad. And just walk away from the trouble.
My softer side? I mean, I like to snuggle.
I feel like when I do some dance moves during the week or at the house, I'm quicker on my feet. I can react quicker just from dancing.
I was always blessed growing up with opportunities and access to facilities, equipment, and playing with my brothers in the backyard to be the best athlete I could be.
Just like any other game we're taking on we've got to prepare, prepare hard, mentally, physically. We've been practicing hard.
Keep doing what you have to do to help the team out.