Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski has explained why he feels like partying made him a better player.
Gronk, a four-time Super Bowl winner, is known for being a fun lover and the life of the party. Even on the back of his second retirement, he’s still very relevant and is a regular presence on television.
The 33-year-old made an appearance on The Tonight Show on Monday night and would explain how his love for partying actually made him a better football player.
“I read somewhere that you said partying made you a better player,” host Jimmy Fallon told Gronkowski at one point.
“Yeah. Yes. In ways,” he replied. “So, I’ve always said that. You know, it was kind of, like, my past, the partying. You know, everyone’s like, ‘Rob, you’re partying too much’ or whatever. I just had a good time growing up.”
He continued:
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I’m from Buffalo. As you can see, the Bills Mafia, you watch the Bills Mafia they’re tailgating. They’re jumping off RVs into tables, breaking them. That’s how I grew up. Like, I’m from Buffalo.
So, we love to have a good time. We love to do crazy things like that. And then I realized, like, I was telling everyone like, ‘It makes me better if I party. Like, I’m a better player out on the field.’
The five-time Pro Bowl star then illustrated how his partying habits made him better suited to football as he was doing lots of things that were physically demanding, like carrying his friends.
And then I realized it and then I went back and I was like, ‘How do I party?’ Well, I’m carrying my friends, you know, throughout the bar. I’m holding them up. I’m lifting them. I’m curling them. They’re on my back. “I’m jumping up and down and I’m dancing the whole time, kind of like Austin Butler, I’m gyrating like that. And then I realized that that translated to the football field.
Gronk teased rumors of a return to the NFL before the playoffs but it turns out he was only looking to announce a new partnership with FanDuel. He did consider coming back and revealed having gotten calls from two teams but ultimately decided that he wanted to stay retired.
“I miss it sometimes, but not really,” he told Jimmy. “Then I miss it for like an hour and then I would go work out and then I’d be like, ‘Nah, I don’t miss it. I don’t have the energy to even work out.’”
Gronkowski played in the NFL for 11 seasons, nine of which were spent with the New England Patriots, where he won three of his championships. The other two were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Widely considered to be one of the best tight ends in NFL history, Gronk and former teammate Tom Brady combined to devastating effect. It was rumored that he might return to Tampa Bay for one last run alongside Brady but we can only wonder how that would have turned out.
