There have been a lot of characters that have come through the NFL ranks over the years. But perhaps the biggest goofball of the modern era was future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski.
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He was known for his wacky touchdown dances and the patented “Gronk Spike” as well as his pinball talent when it came to running after the catch. But he was also known for having a good time off the field. It was a bad day to be a wing whenever Gronkowski was in the building.
He retired for the first time after New England’s win in Super Bowl 53 following the 2018 season. Gronkowski also decided to change his off-field lifestyle. Most specifically, his diet. A couple of years ago, he revealed his daily food plan, and while he might steal a bit off his partner’s plate, it was relatively healthy stuff.
“How to eat like a Gronk? I’ll just put it simple. You got your friends and your family around, once you finish your plate, you start eating off their plate. … Breakfast, protein shake. Nice tasty protein shake. I would say at lunch, chicken, rice, veggies, a nice sauce all over it. And then a nice big huge steak dinner probably at night time,” he stated.
“But you gotta always have one or two cheat meals per week, for sure. My favorite go-to cheat meal is, I would say a chicken finger sub. Just being from Buffalo, those are huge, and a chicken barbecue sub was the best.”
Early in his life, Gronk said that he “would eat anything. I’m talking like anything. Chicken wings with as much ranch and blue cheese dressing as you can.” That began to change later in his career and after his first retirement. He then took a page out of teammate and pal Tom Brady’s playbook.
Gronk began doing a version of Tom’s infamous TB12 method of dieting designed by Brady’s trainer, Alex Guerrero.
“I feel like I’ve definitely transformed ever since I stopped playing football. I feel like I transformed in a better way. … [I fast] every other day, you know, depending on what I’m doing, where I’m traveling. … I just did my longest fast this week, about six days ago, it was for 24 hours. … I wanted to lose. I had bloated weight.”
Gronkowski responded so well to the diet and got into such good shape—down to 240, 20 pounds below his previous playing weight of 260—that he came out of retirement after sitting out the 2019 season. He followed Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the pair won yet another Super Bowl together. No doubt Gronk’s dieting deserves a little credit for that ring.
Now that he’s a few years clear of his playing days, Gronkowski is not taking his diet quite so seriously. He visited Europe recently, and the abundance of natural and organic foods there means that he still feels great even after gorging himself. Last August, he said he weighed 274 pounds, his heaviest ever, and he felt awesome. Eat your heart out, TB12 method.
