The 2025 NFL Draft concluded a week ago, with heartbreak for several talented young players who did not get a call. While some are back in college football, many signed as undrafted free agents. And former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has some useful words of advice for them.
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That includes the likes of Seth Henigan, Donovan Edwards, Montrell Johnson Jr., Isaiah Neyor, Cobee Bryant, Jordan Clark, and Shilo Sanders, all of whom signed on as undrafted free agents this year. And while The Gronk wasn’t an undrafted rookie himself, he knows better than most how the system works.
There have been many undrafted free agents who have gone on to have good, even great careers. There are even some Hall of Famers who started as undrafted free agents. Which is why the Patriots legend was clear that getting into the league is the first step. That can happen any time, but when it does, they have to be ready to step up.
Gronkowski detailed how, at some point, some undrafted free agents’ names will get called to step up to the roster, and they’ll have to be prepared.
“It doesn’t matter where you get drafted, it doesn’t matter if you sign as an undrafted free agent. It all matters what you do with your opportunity. Every undrafted free agent is gonna get a shot, they’re going to be put in with the first team at some point or the second team, and the ball is gonna come to you,” said Gronkowski on the Dudes on Dudes podcast.
And Gronk was surely talking from his own experience, something which youngsters should take note of and be inspired from.
When Gronkowski missed being a first-round pick
Getting drafted for any player is a life-changing moment. It’s the time when they transition from being college football stars to professional NFL players.
Coming out of the University of Arizona, Gronkowski was productive in the two seasons he played. He recorded 75 catches for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdown receptions. He was even viewed as a potential first-rounder.
However, he went in the second round and that’s when the New England Patriots selected him as the 42nd overall pick. He reminisced about the rollercoaster of emotions he had on draft night.
Due to not going in the first round, Gronk was upset. He even recalled how his mother saw him in down in the dumps, showing rare emotion. However, that despair quickly turned to joy when he got the call from the Patriots.
“To this day, my mom still claims that there’s only two days of my life where she saw me pissed,” Gronkowski recalled. “It was draft night, and I forgot the second one. But when I got that call from New England, I didn’t care one single bit anymore that I didn’t go in the first round. My aura just got picked back up, my dream came to real life right on the spot in that moment.”
Gronk may have been a second-round pick, but wound up becoming one of the best tight ends in NFL history. As he said, getting to the league is the first and most important step. How you get there will not matter if you are able to prove yourself when your team needs you the most.
