Rob Gronkowski is simply a fun guy. If there’s a chance for some adrenaline (or some beer), you can usually count on the future Hall of Fame tight end to join in. One of his favorite hobbies is skiing, believe it or not. It won’t take long for you to find online videos of him doing everything from skiing shirtless to shotgunning a beer on the slopes. However, what you won’t find is a video of him skiing with former teammate and pal Tom Brady.
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Skiing is viewed from the outside as a more posh, rich person’s sport. However, if you know any small-town skiers, you know that they’re not that posh. Not at all, really. They can get just as fired up off the slopes (and sometimes on them) as any other group. This is what draws Gronk to the slopes like a moth to a flame. Brady does a little more “bougie” skiing, while Gronk skis the “blue collar” mountains.
“I usually bounce back and forth between Breckenridge and Vale, I’ve just never been to Aspen. I feel like my people are Vale and Breckenridgers… [Tom Brady]’s too bougie for me. Tom’s too big-time for me, I’ve never been to Big Sky with him. I’m gonna bring him to Breckenridge, though, where all the blue-collar people go skiing,” Rob told Kay Adams on Up & Adams.
Kay Adams was surprised that someone of Gronk’s size enjoys skiing. In reply, the former Buccaneer and Patriot said the ski lifts are no problem despite his 6’6″, 265-pound frame, as he’s been skiing since he was a kid.
“I am in the Rocky Mountains right now in Colorado. Let me tell you, I’m actually currently at 11,000 feet up in the air. Last night, I was trying to sleep, and I was just trying to catch my breath because the air is so thin here. But it’s gonna help me out in the long run and it’s gonna build up your red blood cells, and therefore, I’ll have more stamina to last on your show.”
He also said that he enjoys skiing because the helmet allows him to go unrecognized—most of the time. Unsurprisingly, Gronk quipped that he has always been the biggest kid on the mountain, so a keen eye can sometimes spot him out there.
While Gronk may be skiing at less prestigious mountains, it seems like he would probably be skiing circles around Brady if they ever hit the slopes together.
Drew Bledsoe once said Brady was an awful skier
Before Tom Brady was a seven-time Super Bowl winner and a happy-go-lucky friend of Gronk, he was a youngster trying to prove himself on the New England Patriots, facing Pro Bowl competition in the form of Drew Bledsoe.
We all know how that story went. But what some may not know is that the two QBs have remained friends years after their football rivalry.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Brady began to take up skiing. Bledsoe, who’d been skiing his whole life, took his family and Brady’s out for a weekend on the mountain one year. Needless to say, Bledsoe was not impressed.
“This was like two or three years ago, and he was really awful then. I think he’s gotten a little bit better. I think he and Gisele both started skiing at the same time and all the reports I get is that she’s a better skier than he is already. He’s absolutely going to get lapped by his kids. I know how that goes [laughs], because they start early and they just skyrocket.”
Over a decade since that ski outing with the Bledsoes, no doubt Brady has gotten a lot better with the skis and poles. He’s competitive as they come, he’s a natural athlete, and he’s surely got some top experts showing him how to improve. Will he ever get to Gronk or Bledsoe level, though? That’s an answer you can leave in the comments below.
