New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski’s father Gordy claims that it was the awesome pool parties at the University of Arizona that persuaded Gronk to take his talents to Tucson.
The Arizona Wildcats is not a powerhouse football program, which has caused people to wonder for a long time why Gronkowski would choose to play for the Wildcats over perennial football contenders. (RELATED: Rob Gronkowski Doesn’t Have Snapchat Because ‘Too Many Chicks’ Would Send Him Pics)
Gordy answered that question in an interview with Vanity Fair.
With each of my sons, when they got to the campus that was right for them, they knew right away. Rob had something like 65 scholarship offers, and I asked, “Where are you going? Syracuse? Ohio State?”
He goes, “University of Arizona.” I asked, “Why there?” “Dad, if you ever went to a pool party at Arizona, you’d understand.”
If Gronkowski had decided that he didn’t want to play sports, that would have been fine with his father too, but the family rule was that everybody had to finish anything they started.
I coached each of my sons either in hockey or baseball, and they loved it. I sort of pushed them into sports a little, but if they’d decided they didn’t want to play, that would have been fine, too. All I asked of them was if they started something, that they finish it. If it was playing the trumpet even — I didn’t care if you didn’t like it anymore — you finished the year playing the trumpet. They might not like someone on their team or one of their coaches, and I’d say, “Hey, I know the guy’s a prick. But guess what? You’re going to meet a lot of them in life, and you’ve got to figure out how to work yourself around those people and keep on moving.” So there was no quitting.