Betting On Gronk

Photo by Sipa USA/AP

What do you do after you’ve scored 92 NFL touchdowns, earned four Super Bowl rings, and hosted your very own fan cruise in the Caribbean? If you’re Rob Gronkowski, you become one of the biggest boosters of legalized online sports betting around. In the wake of his infamous kick at Super Bowl LVII to promote his new partnership with FanDuel, the former Pats tight end—who’s currently splitting his time between Tampa Bay and Foxborough—sat down with us to discuss sports gambling, back-tickling, saggy boobs, and A Gronking to Remember.

At this last Super Bowl, we saw you do something we’ve never seen you do before—attempting to kick a field goal on behalf of your new business partner, FanDuel. What went into that?

When I first heard about the concept from FanDuel, I loved it because I love competitive things. I love learning new skill sets, so the idea of doing the first live Super Bowl commercial in history and trying to kick a field goal—and if I made it, they were going to give away $10 million in bonus prizes—I was all in. And it was a good thing they came up with the plan about three months ahead of time. I needed the practice. I was God-awful at the very beginning, let me tell you. My first couple attempts, I was kicking 10 yards to the left, 10 yards to the right, maybe getting only 10 feet off the ground. So I started from stage one, and I needed to get to, like, stage 10 in order to have a chance of making it. I practiced twice a week, for about 90 minutes, for two or three months. It was just so much fun learning the skill set that goes into the art of kicking, and I would say it’s both an art and a science.

Did it give you a newfound respect for kickers?

No doubt about it. I’ve always respected kickers, but I never knew how much detail went into it. I thought they just showed up and were great at kicking, but you’ve got to perfect the form. You’ve also got to be aware of what’s going on with the weather. The wind factor is a whole other component. And that’s what happened to me at the Super Bowl. I thought it was the best kick of my life. When it went off my foot, it felt so good, and I thought, “That’s going through.” I kicked a little bit to the right because I knew the wind was blowing to the left, but that just shows you the degree to which you’ve got to focus on Mother Nature, because I still missed. It was a shame because it felt so good coming off my foot.

How does it feel to be at the Super Bowl when you aren’t playing?

Well, it was really weird during my career, but now that I’m not playing, it’s totally normal. I’m always around the game or watching games. It just kind of feels like another work week.

When you were playing, how would you prep for a game? Did you have any superstitions or rituals?

Just one. I had to have peanut butter and jelly and chocolate milk before every single game—two or three hours before the game—to fuel me up. And the sandwich was always made with my mom’s homemade jelly.

What impact do you think legal sports betting has had on football so far?

I think it’s impacted football in a great way. It has engaged fans on a whole other level. People who weren’t really such big football fans are so much more into it. They’re learning about the game. Legal gambling gives them an added level of excitement when they’re watching their favorite sports.

Do you bet?

I never really did, money-wise, on sports just because I was in the NFL. I had to stay super far away from that. But I always made bets with my brothers, like who could do more pushups, that type of stuff. We’d be like, “Okay, if this guy scores a touchdown, you’ve got to do 10 pushups.” And I was a big blackjack guy in the casino. But even doing the pushup thing with my brothers made me that much more engaged. It makes you feel as though you’re part of the game, and that’s also what’s great about legal sports gambling. I feel like it’s just going to take the engagement to another level.

Photo by Cheryl Evans/USA Today Sports

How did you originally connect with FanDuel, and what do you think separates it from other online betting platforms?

I’ve been a part of championship-level organizations throughout my career, with the Patriots, winning three Super Bowls, and then with Tampa and that Super Bowl, and that’s what FanDuel is all about. They’re America’s number-one sportsbook, and they always invent new and exciting ways for fans to wager on their favorite sports. Plus, they do it responsibly by providing customers with a number of tools, whether it’s deposit limits, wager limits, and more. I’m all about having fun, but doing things responsibly.

Which Super Bowl win was the most rewarding?

I would say, 100 percent, when we beat the Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl XLIX. Malcolm Butler had that interception that sealed the deal. That was my first Super Bowl win, and it put me in the category of a Super Bowl champion. That was one of the best off-seasons I’ve ever had, too, y’know, living it up, partying—responsibly.

Is there a game, win or lose, that you still think about on a regular basis?

Well, it doesn’t really haunt me anymore, but when we played the New York Giants, my second year in the league, and they beat us. In the last couple of minutes, they went down the field and scored, and then we had a chance to throw a Hail Mary. The ball literally missed my fingertips by about 3 inches; if I’d grabbed it, we would have won the game. That play just kind of stays with me a little bit.

When you dented the Lombardi Trophy by bunting a baseball into it, did you even realize what had happened?

No, dude, I didn’t! Y’know, I’m with Julian Edelman. We’re in the City of Boston, the number-one city for sports, with the number-one fans in all of sports, and we’re at the friggin’ opening game for the Red Sox. So all the juices are flowing, and I’m with all of my teammates, and then Julian starts warming up, and I’m there, pretending I’m batting, like we’re big shots, like I’m hitting a home run with a fake bat. Someone walked by with the Lombardi Trophy, and I was like, “Give that to me.” I wanted to say I’d got a hit off Julian so I could talk garbage to him. And he threw a knuckleball. I don’t like knuckleballs, so I was mad, and I wanted to smack it out of the park, but I bunted it. I didn’t realize it put a dent in the trophy until they told me about 30 minutes later. But it was all Julian’s fault. I still blame him because he threw a knuckleball.

Even though you didn’t play in Super Bowl LI, did you ever doubt that Brady & Co. could pull it off?

I was having a great year, and then I took a hit, a shot to my chest, and it gave me a back injury that put me out for the season. I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to go through the playoffs and into that Super Bowl versus the Falcons. But I was there on the sidelines, and I was studying our team. Throughout the time I was out, I went to the games, and there was no doubt in my mind that we still had a chance, even at halftime, to make a comeback. Tom was very confident. Julian was very confident. I was running on the sidelines, saying, “This is gonna be a helluva story, boys, when we make a comeback,” and man, it sure was.

Let’s talk about your iconic spike for a second. It’s imitated on football fields everywhere. Did it just come about naturally and then stick, or is there a story behind it?

I always wanted to spike the ball in high school and in college, but if you spiked the ball, it was a penalty, and it just didn’t make sense to hurt the team like that. But when I got to the NFL, it was allowed, and I just thought it was the coolest thing. I started scoring touchdowns, and I started spiking the ball, and next thing you know, the fans were going crazy for it. So I just loved it, man, and it just caught on.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever read about yourself?

It was in a comment section one time that I had saggy boobs. In a picture, because of the angle, it looked like my boobs were sagging, and later that night, I asked my roommate, I was like, “Yo, Nate, do you think I got saggy boobs?” He literally looked at me and said, “You did not read that comment.” I was like, “What? What comment?” Eventually, I admitted that I had, and he goes, “No. And why are you reading that nonsense?”

Ever wear all of your Super Bowl rings at once?

Yes, I have. I wore them all, actually, when we had the Super Bowl ring ceremony here in Tampa. I had all four of them on, and it was just ridiculous. It’s mind-blowing just how big and nice they are, but after 10 minutes, you’ve had a finger workout. They start cramping.

All of the men’s magazines and sports magazines talk about your personal style. How would you describe it?

Basic. Clean and easy. Comfortable. I just like T-shirts and shorts and throwing some shoes on.

Favorite item of designer clothing?

I love these Dolce & Gabbana shoes I got when I hosted the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards show. They were my first-ever pair of designer shoes, and I only pull them out on special occasions to show them off. And everyone’s like, “Where’d you get those? You didn’t buy those.” And I’m like, “You’re right. Nickelodeon gave them to me, baby.”

What’s the best perk or swag that you ever received?

When you go to the Super Bowl, you get to your room, and Nike’s left you an entire suitcase full of clothes—shorts, T-shirts, boxers, socks, even shoes. And it’s already packed, super clean, and very nicely organized.

Were your athletic ambitions influenced by the fact that your great-grandfather was a world-record holder in cycling?

He held the world record in the 1920s, and it just shows that the athleticism and competitive spirit have lasted in our family. But one thing I wish he’d passed down was his cardio, because if you’re breaking the world record in cycling, you have cardio for days.

What was the first thing you said to Tom Brady when you started with Tampa?

Oh, when I signed in Tampa, the first thing I said to him was, “Let’s do this thing. Let’s go down there and win a championship, baby.”

Who was the messiest Patriots player in the locker room?

Probably Martellus Bennett. He was a messy guy. Things were everywhere around his locker.

The erotic fan-fiction book, A Gronking to Remember—was that unfairly overlooked for a Pulitzer Prize?

Oh, 100 percent. Man, that should’ve definitely won a prize. I read some of it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after we won the Super Bowl, and let me tell you, that just freaking turned people on. I didn’t read the whole book, but what a great idea! What creativity! The author definitely should have won a prize.

Obviously, you’re set up for a career in the wider world of football, but is there anything else you see yourself doing?

I love being an analyst with Fox and staying active in football, just talking about the game. It’s a great thing not to get hit and get paid. And being with FanDuel. I love doing commercials. It keeps my mind going. But possibly, I would love to dip into the acting world a little bit, just take a role here and there.

Lastly, what’s something most people would be surprised to learn about you?

I love to get my back tickled.

Photo by SPXChrome/Getty Images

By the Numbers

Jackpot!

Sports betting, in person and online, has finally arrived in Massachusetts. Here’s a look at the state’s newest industry.

5 million

Cost, in dollars, for a license to conduct sports betting.

20

Percentage of revenue online sportsbooks must pay the state in taxes.

60 million

Amount, in dollars, the state expects to receive in a year from sports-betting taxes.

9

Percentage of state revenue generated by sports betting that goes to the state’s Public Health Trust Fund.

511,000

Total amount, in dollars, of bets placed on the first day in-person sports gambling was legal in Massachusetts.

First published in the print edition of the May 2023 issue with the headline “Betting On Gronk.”