A former NFL star who signed a one-day contract to end his career as a member of the New England Patriots once made it clear he had not spent any of his earnings made from playing American Football and has lived entirely off what he earned from deals off the field.
Rob Gronkowski spent the bulk of his career with the Patriots, having been picked in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft.
In his time with the Patriots, Gronkowski won the Super Bowl on three occasions in the 2014, 2017 and 2018 seasons, before he confirmed his first retirement from the sport at the age of 29 in 2019, later admitting it was due to mental health reasons which stemmed from the pain and injuries he had suffered during his career.
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However, Gronkowski came out of retirement in 2020 when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He added a fourth Super Bowl title to his collection of accolades when the Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gronkowski confirmed his second official retirement in mid-2022, before technically finally retiring in November 2025 when he signed a one-day contract with the Patriots to retire as a member of the franchise where he spent the bulk of his career and where it began back in 2010.
He said: "I'm a Patriot for life. My career started here and 100% needed to end here."
Throughout his playing career, Gronkowski earned a reported $70m through his time on the field with the Patriots and the Buccaneers.
But as well as this, like many NFL players, he had a range of endorsements from which he earned extra money.
And the 36-year-old revealed he 'technically' did not spend any of his NFL earnings and has lived almost entirely off the proceeds from his various endorsement deals.
Speaking on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast, former tight end Gronkowski said: "Drew Rosenhaus actually gave me a $50,000 upfront marketing budget at the beginning and you got to pay him back over time and the first 50 grand you made.
"So I took that 50 grand, I bought a car, I paid for my spot in New England with it.
"I'm very frugal and lived with a roommate my first couple of years (of playing). I didn't know how long the NFL was going to last.
"I was a second round pick, so it was like a four-year $4m deal. I was like 'If I play this contract out, I'll be set for life. I got $2m in my bank. I can make $100,000, $200,000 of interest, if I only play three or four years, I'm good'.
"If I don't ball, if I'm not the player that I think I could be, I'm still set for life because two million in the bank is set for life to me, at that time.
"I just always wanted to save it and I just used my money that I was getting off the field to spend it on whatever I needed to spend it on.
"To this day, technically, I have not spent any of my NFL money."
Topics: NFL, American Football
John McDougall