Anyone who’s paid any attention to the sport of football at all over the last few years will surely know who Rob Gronkowski is. Most fans and sports analysts already consider him to be a modern legend of the sport, and one of the most exciting players to ever grace the NFL.
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Among his many accomplishments in football, Gronkowski is a four-time Super Bowl champion and is often regarded as one of the major contributing reasons to the success of the teams he plays on. He’s a legendary figure, but there is plenty to know about Gronk outside his incredible football statistics.
10 His Retirement Was Due To Mental Health Issues
For a short period of time, football fans were worried they’d never see Gronkowski take the field again. His retirement back in 2019 seemed like something that could have been final since he has found plenty of success off of the field.
What people may not know about his retirement is that the primary reason for it was due to his struggles with mental health. He had said that his health had gotten so bad that football stopped being a fun sport for him to participate in, something his fans were shocked by.
9 He’s A Former WWE Champion
While Gronkowski didn’t exactly become WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he actually did manage to pick up a title for a little while. One of the company's newer titles, the 24/7 Championship is the title that Gronk managed to snag at WrestleMania.
He was actually the longest reigning champion with that title when he finally lost it, letting Gronk go down in history in yet another avenue of entertainment. He even went on to be awarded a Slammy from the company for being the Celebrity of the Year.
8 He’s Quite The Saver
Whether true or not, it’s been said that Gronkowski actually hasn’t touched any of his earnings from playing in the NFL. Somehow, Gronk has managed to sustain his lifestyle with nothing but the money from various endorsements and his own personal business decisions.
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As a lot of football players do tend to live rather lavish lifestyles, it’s almost a shock that Gronkowski hasn’t spent any of his NFL earnings. Clearly, he’ll be able to retire worry-free when he finally decides he truly is done with the game he loves.
7 Greatness Runs In His Family
With how good Gronkowski is, it shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise to learn that his family has at least some history of greatness in it. Gronk isn’t the only world-class athlete to grace the family, as his great-grandfather was an Olympic athlete.
His great-grandfather, Ignatius Gronkowski was the man who represented the US in the cycling event at the Summer Olympics way back in 1924. Even beyond that, the man was said to have held multiple records in cycling during his prime.
6 He’s Got Some Pipes
For those that aren’t familiar with The Masked Singer, the show serves as a surprise act of sorts from various celebrities. A famous person will don a costume and sing and dance to a hit tune, before eventually revealing just who is the person behind the mask.
It’s clear that the lure of the show was enough to draw Gronkowski in as he actually appeared in an episode. He’s not the most phenomenal singer in the world, but he doesn’t need to be. Gronk put on a great performance, as he always does, and the crowd was shocked to see it was him behind the mask.
5 He Was Almost Barred From Competition
It’s almost impossible to think of a world where Gronkowski didn’t thrive in football, but if things had gone a bit differently for him, that may have been the case. When he was in high school, Gronkowski transferred schools, something that caused some trouble.
Due to the transfer, it was decided that he wouldn’t be allowed to compete during that year’s football season. Luckily, the strange ruling was eventually overturned and Gronk was able to do the thing he did best, even from a young age.
4 He Missed His Junior Season In College
Most people don’t want to miss any playtime when it comes to college football. That’s arguably the most important part of any football player's career, as that's the time to show the NFL what you can do, and get teams interested in you for when the draft comes around.
Shockingly, Gronkowski missed his junior season in college, but it was for good reason. He required back surgery at that time, and while it was likely a hard decision, it was ultimately the right one. His place in the draft may have fallen a bit, but that wasn’t going to stop greatness.
3 He Brought The Spike Back
Pretty much every sports fan has their own favorite touchdown celebration. There are a lot of different ways people have celebrated over the years, but few ways are as visually striking as the Gronk Spike. People had used a spike celebration before, but Gronk is the one who brought it back to popularity.
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He’s hit his spike in a few different ways, but most people love it when he busts a quick move before landing the spike. Some people went as far as to calculate the force of his spike, stating that he strikes the ground with roughly 650 pounds of force.
2 He Believes Partying Makes Him A Better Player
Football players aren’t exactly the type to shy away from wild parties, but most of them probably wouldn’t claim that partying actually makes them better. Well, it’s a good thing that Gronkowski is far from the average football player.
Gronk has openly mentioned how he believes a good party actually helps him play better. It does make some sense, being able to cut loose for a while and decompress from the hard-hitting and fast-paced action of the field is probably a useful thing for many players.
1 He Started His Own Charity Foundation
Most football fans love Gronkowski, even if they aren’t aware of the many things he does for the world off of the field. One of the most commendable things he’s done was starting his own charity foundation, the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation.
The goal of the foundation is to get kids moving and help provide them with the chance to seek out opportunities to play sports as they grow up. Being able to give back to the world like that is something that a lot of football fans can respect, even those NFL fans that may not like Gronk.
