Rob Gronkowski

Gronkowski has been in a relationship with model Camille Kostek since 2015. They first met at a Patriots charity event on Thanksgiving in 2013 and have lived in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Tampa, Florida.

He has also pursued projects outside football, including business, publishing, broadcasting, professional wrestling, and entertainment. In 2015, he co-wrote the memoir It's Good to Be Gronk with Jason Rosenhaus, which became a New York Times bestseller.

Gronkowski was raised in Williamsville, New York, and played hockey until age 14 before taking up basketball. At Williamsville North High School, he played football, basketball, and baseball, then attended Woodland Hills High School in Pennsylvania for his senior year. He graduated from Woodland Hills with a 3.75 GPA and was recognized as an all-state and all-conference football player.

He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats from 2007 to 2009. In his first two seasons, he recorded 75 receptions for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns, setting Arizona records for a tight end. He earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2008 but missed the 2009 season after back surgery.

The New England Patriots selected Gronkowski in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft with the 42nd overall pick. He made an immediate impact, catching 10 touchdown passes as a rookie and becoming the first rookie tight end since the NFL-AFL merger to reach that total. His principal quarterback in New England was Tom Brady, and the two became one of the league's most productive quarterback-receiver combinations.

Gronkowski's 2011 season established his place among the NFL's elite. He set tight-end records with 17 receiving touchdowns, 18 total touchdowns, and 1,327 receiving yards, while becoming the first tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and named a first-team All-Pro.

Injuries repeatedly interrupted his Patriots career, including forearm problems, back surgery, and a torn ACL and MCL in 2013. He returned strongly in 2014, recording 1,124 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns and winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. He helped New England win Super Bowl XLIX, Super Bowl LI, and Super Bowl LIII, and was selected to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Gronkowski was also known for the "Gronk Spike," his signature touchdown celebration. He announced his first NFL retirement in 2019 at age 29 after nine seasons with the Patriots, saying that the physical toll of football had affected his well-being.

Gronkowski returned to the NFL in 2020 after the Patriots traded him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The move reunited him with Tom Brady, who had joined Tampa Bay earlier that year. Gronkowski finished the regular season with 45 receptions, 623 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns.

In Super Bowl LV, he caught two touchdown passes from Brady in Tampa Bay's 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The performance gave him four Super Bowl championships overall and made him the first player in NFL history to catch a pass in five different Super Bowls.

He played one more season with the Buccaneers, finishing 2021 with 55 receptions, 802 receiving yards, and six touchdowns. He announced his second retirement in 2022. His NFL career ended with 621 receptions, 9,286 receiving yards, and 92 receiving touchdowns.

Gronkowski developed an acting career alongside his football work. He appeared as himself in Entourage, 80 for Brady, Good Burger 2, and The Instigators, and played roles in American Violence, You Can't Have It, and Boss Level. He also provided the voice of Blitz in The Electric State and appeared in The Roaring Game.

His television work has included hosting Nickelodeon's Crashletes, executive producing and hosting MVP, competing as the White Tiger on The Masked Singer, and serving as a team captain on CBS's Game On!. He joined Fox Sports as an NFL studio analyst in 2019 and has also hosted the Kids' Choice Awards and portions of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

A lifelong wrestling fan, Gronkowski helped Mojo Rawley during WrestleMania 33, hosted WrestleMania 36, and won the WWE 24/7 Championship at that event. He later received WWE's Celebrity of the Year Slammy Award.

Gronkowski established the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation to support children's involvement in school and sports. The foundation provides grants to sports programs with an emphasis on health, community, and fitness. He has also supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Patriots Foundation, and One Mission's cancer charity events.

He received the New England Patriots' Ron Burton Community Service Award in 2016, the USO-Metro Merit Award in 2019, and the Make-A-Wish Wish Hero Award in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gronkowski and Camille Kostek donated more than 20,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to hospitals and fire departments.

In 2021, Gronkowski supported the renovation of Charlesbank Playground on Boston's Charles River Esplanade. In later charitable work, he helped raise awareness of valley fever in animals and met with members of the United States House of Representatives to discuss development of a vaccine for dogs.