Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski is one of the five brothers in the Gronkowski family, four of which played in the NFL. He is considered one of the greatest tight ends in football.
Rob Gronkowski spent most of his childhood life in New York. He was born in Amherst, NY, and raised in Williamsville, NY, where he attended Williamsville North High School.
In 2006, Gronkowski moved to suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to finish his senior year at Woodlands Hills High School.
Read more below on Rob Gronkowski’s athletic upbringing and achievements in the academic and business world.
The Gronkowski Upbringing
The Gronkowski brothers had an upbringing that destined them to become successful athletes. Their father, Gordy Gronkowski, revealed in an interview that he built them their own, well-equipped, private gym in the basement of the family house.
Gordy openly talked about training the five boys to overcome their fear of the ball at a very young age, and teaching them to be ready for any sport they decide to take on.
Once the boys reached eighth grade, Gordy would direct them towards the home gym. He firmly believed that they needed to train in order to continue pursuing their sport careers, and become tougher, both mentally and physically.
Gordy’s goal was for each of his sons to get an athletic scholarship and go off to college. All of them accomplished that goal, and Rob Gronkowski had around 65 athletic scholarship offers to choose from.
You can watch the video below to see more about Gronkowski upbringing.
Academic Importance
As mentioned above, the goal for Gordy Gronkowski was for each of his sons to go to college on an athletic scholarship. He also put major emphasis on the importance of academic results and keeping the GPA up to par.
When he wasn’t running plays on the gridiron, Rob Gronkowski did great in school. He mentioned that his favorite subject was math and that he was even moved up to advanced math for a brief period.
Following his graduation from Woodlands Hills High School with a GPA of 3.7, Rob Gronkowski enrolled at the University of Arizona as a Pre-Business major.
Rob Gronkowski’s Financial Strategy
Considering math was his favorite subject, and that he did enroll into university as a Pre-Business major, it is logical to assume Gronkowski is smart with numbers. He is one of the rare athletes who actually committed to a very strict financial strategy and decided to save his money.
Rob Gronkowski admitted publicly that he did not spend a single dollar he had earned during his NFL career. It is estimated that he retired in 2019 with all of the $54 million he had earned in the NFL.
Gronkowski also admitted that the only money he has ever spent was from his endorsement deals, and that he lives a fairly normal lifestyle. In an interview, he reveals that he indulged in only one guilty, pricey, pleasure: private jets.
Rob also mentioned the one special treat he allowed himself after 8 years of playing in the NFL, which was a single diamond chain he treated himself to.
To see more about Rob’s financial advice, watch this video.
Life After Retirement
Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL due to physical pain and exhaustion after the 2018 season he finished with the New England Patriots. He dove right into the business world and decided to pursue a partnership with a CBD company as he found pain relief in their topical pain products.
In 2020, only a year after his retirement, Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski announced that he is moving to Tampa Bay to be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their tight end. He noted that the decision was impacted by the fact that Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback, is also moving there.