The athletic gene runs deep Gronkowski family, with four of the five brothers making it to the NFL at some point, while the fifth pursued a career in professional baseball, playing in both the minor and independent leagues. But it was Rob Gronkowski, better known as “Gronk,” who rose to legendary status. Chris Gronkowski was one of the brothers who reached the NFL. While the Patriots drafted Rob in the second round that year, teams didn’t draft Chris, but he still carved out a role for himself as a fullback, playing a couple of seasons in the league.
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Despite going undrafted, the Cowboys signed Chris Gronkowski as a free agent in 2010. That didn’t surprise him—his college stats and game tape didn’t exactly give teams a compelling reason to take a chance on him. According to him, he had played football mainly to earn a scholarship, hoping it would cover college while he earned a good degree and partied every week. As far as making the NFL? In his own words, his chances were “none.”
“The statline wasn’t great. I went to college hoping I would get a scholarship, so I didn’t have to pay for college,” Chris recalled. “I was still in my junior year, going to Thursday night parties, partying. The chance of playing in the NFL for me, I thought, was pretty much zero. I was going to go to school, and I was going to get the best degree I could. I went to business school, got a degree in accounting,” he added.
But during his senior year, his coach told him that a few NFL teams had shown interest. Chris found that hard to believe. While he had put together a couple of solid performances in his junior year, he figured teams were confusing him with one of his brothers—after all, they were all on the same Arizona Wildcats team.
Still, that small spark of interest gave the future Cowboys fullback a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, he injured his hamstring in the offseason and struggled through a quiet senior campaign. He knew an NFL Combine invite wasn’t coming, so his only real shot was to make an impression on Pro Day. He gave it his all, knowing the NFL was a long shot—but deep down, he kept wishing that one team might take a chance and call his name.
That hope wasn’t just about proving himself—it was personal. Three of his brothers had already made it to the league. If he didn’t make it, he feared he’d be the odd one out—the black sheep of the Gronkowski family, sitting at the bottom of the totem pole. It nearly played out the way he feared—no team drafted him. Just as his dream of playing professionally was slipping away, Dallas came calling, signing him as an undrafted free agent.
Now, the pressure was on Chris to earn his spot on the roster. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone in that uphill battle. Another undrafted rookie, who happened to be his former college roommate from Maryland, was also trying to make the team. That familiar face gave Chris a sense of comfort—and a reminder that he wasn’t the only one fighting against the odds.
Chris Gronkowski’s NFL stat line wasn’t far off from his college numbers. As a fullback, he rushed for 17 yards on five carries and caught eight passes for 46 yards and one touchdown while suiting up for teams like the Cowboys and Broncos, and spending time on the reserves for the Colts and Chargers. Though his NFL career was modest, it didn’t define his success.
After football, Chris shifted his focus to business, just as he had always envisioned. He founded a company called Ice Shaker and even pitched it on Shark Tank, where he struck a deal with Mark Cuban and Alex Rodriguez. Beyond Ice Shaker, he remains actively involved in the family’s fitness brand, Gronk Fitness, continuing the entrepreneurial drive that runs deep in the Gronkowski household.
