Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was named to his 3rd All-Pro team in 2014. (Getty)
He’s a dancer off the field and a masher on it.
He’s the subject in an erotic novel and the focus of opposing defenses in the film room.
He’s Rob Gronkowski, All-Pro tight end for the New England Patriots.
Sunday evening Gronk and his Pats meet the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, just a few hours from where he attended college.
In his 5 year career, he has 54 touchdowns in 65 games, making 3 All-Pro teams and 3 Pro Bowls.
He gets it done on the field. And calling Gronkowski an interesting fellow off it would be an understatement.
Here what you need to know about Gronk:
1. He Is The 2nd Youngest of 5 Gronkowski Brothers
(Getty)
At 25, Rob is the second-youngest of 5 athletic Gronkowski brothers.
Gordie, Jr.: He played baseball at Jacksonville University and played for the Worcester Tornadoes of the Canadian-American League (CanAm). He’s on Twitter @GordieGronk.
Chris: He played football at Maryland before transferring to Arizona. Chris, 28, went undrafted, but has played for Dallas (2010), Indianapolis (2011), Denver (2012) and San Diego (2013) and is currently a free agent. He has 1 career touchdown.
Dan: Dan, 30, was a 7th round pick by the Detroit Lions out of Maryland. He also played for Denver, New England and Cleveland, but has been out of the NFL since 2011.
Glenn: Glenn just finished his sophomore season at Kansas State. The fullback caught 1 touchdown this season.
Professional sports-wise, Rob is by far the most successful. Before the 2012 season, Gronk signed a 6-year, $54 million contract, which included $13.17 million guaranteed.
2. College Injuries Forced Gronkowski’s Draft Stock to Plummet
Rob signed with Arizona out of Woodland Hills High in Western Pennsylvania, where he was a 4-star recruit by Rivals. Check out some highlights of his high school career above.
As a first-year for UA in 2007, he caught 28 passes for 525 yards and 6 touchdowns, garnering recognition on a number of freshman all-America teams. Gronk missed the first 3 games of his sophomore season, but still finished with a 47-672-10 line. He was named to the AP All-America 3rd team.
But he missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing back surgery.
Gronkowski entered the 2010 NFL Draft, where he slipped to the 2nd round (42nd overall) and was snatched up by Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
3. There Is an Erotic Novel For Sale Based on Gronkowski
(Getty)
Erotic fiction author Lacey Noonan made Gronkowski the subject of her book “A Gronking to Remember.” It’s the story of a housewife who makes it her mission to get involved with the player.
Noonan sat down with Boston.com last month to give this interview.
You can buy the book on Amazon here.
As for his real love life, he hasn’t been linked to anyone recently, though back in 2012 this happened. He definitely has no problems posing for photos with the ladies on social media.
Noonan also has “I Don’t Care If My Best Friend’s Mom Is a Sasquatch, She’s Hot and I’m Taking a Shower With Her” up for sale. Seriously.
4. He Kept it Light During The Deflategate Controversy
While Deflategate is a serious matter throughout the league, Gronk kept the situation light, as he always does. He even offered up a few reasons why the balls could have been void of proper PSI. He tweeted the photo below back on January 19.
(Twitter)
And give the YouTube video above a watch. He spares nobody, poking fun at his future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and he also discusses spooning.
You can always count on Gronkowski to make you chuckle and he’s definitely worth a follow on Twitter @RobGronkowski.
5. Gronk Had a Guest Appearance on ‘Who’s Line Is it Anyway?’
Gronk isn’t shy about dancing and he let it show on a taping of the improv television show “Who’s Line is it Anyway?”
But then there was that time 2 years ago when Gronk, with a broken forearm, hit Vegas to party, dance and wrestle the night away at a hot spot. It caused quite a stir through the NFL world and Patriots Nation.
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Rob Gronkowski: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know