Glenn Thomas Gronkowski (born March 25, 1993) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

who is currently a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. After going undrafted in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

, Gronkowski was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, and was in the practice squad of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

from 2016 until he was released in 2017.

Career

Gronkowski attended

Williamsville North High School Williamsville North High School, known locally as "North" or "Will North" is a public high school in the Williamsville Central School District of Williamsville, New York. The school offers a comprehensive program with multi-level instruction in ...

. While there, as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he recorded 53 receptions for 762 yards and 11

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

on offense. On defense, he recorded 43 tackles, eight

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, two returned for touchdowns and two recovered

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s. He also averaged 35.8 yards per punt and handled

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (magaz ...

s. He was named the Section VI Class AA North Co-Offensive Player of the Year. During his high school career, Gronkowski recorded 125 receptions for 2,076 yards and 23 touchdowns.

College

After high school, Gronkowski attended

, where he majored in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. As a true freshman in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he decided to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. As a redshirt freshman in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, he appeared in all 13 games, starting five. He recorded five receptions for 194 yards and three touchdowns. He was also a lead blocker for

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

John Hubert, who finished fourth in the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

in rushing yards and recorded the 14th 1,000-yard season in school history. For the season, Gronkowski was named an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection and was a First-team Academic All-Big 12 selection as well. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he appeared in all 13 games with three starts. He recorded five receptions for 99 yards and one touchdown. He was named First-team Academic All-District 7 and First-team Academic All-Big 12. For

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, he started all 13 games. He recorded five receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown. He also

rushed ''Rushed'' is a 2021 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Vibeke Muasya and starring Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who also wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film) and Robert Patrick. Plot Barbara O’Brien, an Irish-Catholic mother in ...

the ball 11 times for 45 yards and one touchdown. He also threw a four-yard touchdown pass for fellow

Winston Dimel, the first Wildcat non-quarterback to throw a touchdown pass since 2010 ( Daniel Thomas). He was named Second-team All-Big 12 by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and First-team Academic All-Big 12 and First-team Academic All-District 7.

Professional

Buffalo Bills

After going undrafted in the

, Gronkowski signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. He was released on September 12, 2016, after only playing in one game.

New England Patriots

On October 1, 2016, Gronkowski was signed to the Patriots'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was released on October 12, 2016. On October 17, 2016, he was re-signed to their practice squad. Gronkowski was again released from New England's practice squad on November 7, 2016. He was re-signed again on November 16, 2016. He was released again on November 30, 2016, but was re-signed again two days later on December 2, 2016. On February 5, 2017, the Patriots won

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

. In the game, the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime to give Gronkowski his first Super Bowl championship. On February 14, 2017, the Patriots signed Gronkowski to a futures contract for the 2017 season. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Personal life

Gronkowski is a native of

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical ...

. He is the youngest of five brothers, four of which played in the NFL:

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

, Rob, and

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

. Gronkowski is the great-grandson of Ignatius Gronkowski, who represented the United States in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and who held five world records in that sport. Gronkowski and his four brothers co-ow
Gronk Fitness
a fitness gear and lifestyle brand that partners with industry leaders like

Life Fitness Life Fitness is an American fitness company specializing in the production and distribution of cardiovascular and strength training equipment under several brands including Life Fitness, Cybex and Hammer Strength. It is headquartered in Franklin ...

and Xtreme Monkey to outfit commercial and home gyms with fitness equipment. As of 2019, he resided in Texas.

References

External links

*
Kansas State Wildcats bio

Buffalo Bills bio

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gronkowski, Glenn Buffalo Bills players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Buffalo, New York Living people 1993 births Kansas State Wildcats football players American football fullbacks Gronkowski family American people of Polish descent