Rob Gronkowski Didn't Spend Any Of His NFL Contract Money. He Invested It All

Rob Gronkowski embraced his party boy persona during his time in the National Football League. The affable tight end, who won four Super Bowls - three in New England, one in Tampa Bay - was known for his celebration, his nightlife videos and more.

But there's something else about Gronkowski's career that you might not know. And, you probably didn't expect to hear it.

Gronkowski chose to save and invest all of his NFL contract money. He decided to live off of his NFL endorsement money. And it's paying off in a big way.

When Gronkowski entered the NFL, he was on a rookie contract, worth about $4 million in guaranteed money. After taxes, agent fees and more, Gronkowski would be left with about $2 million.

Gronkowski felt that he could put that all in the bank, invest it and live off of it for the rest of his life, whenever his NFL career ended.

"If I only play three, four years, I'm good," he said on the Bussin' With the Boys podcast.

Thankfully for Gronkowski, he ended up playing for much longer. Gronkowski played in the NFL for 11 seasons, making $70,629,507 over the course of his career.

Gronkowski stuck to his 'live off endorsement money' rule

Gronkowski chose not to spend any of his NFL contract money during his career. He saved it and invested it.

The future Hall of Fame tight end landed huge endorsement deals with Tide, Nike, Dunkin Donuts and others. He was able to live off of those seven-figure deals.

Gronkowski's plan has reached others, too.

Notre Dame star Jeremiyah Love, who went No. 3 overall, signed a rookie contract worth $53.9 million. He's planning to live off of his endorsement money, too.

"I guess you could say, Spider-Man said this, with great power comes great responsibility," Love said. "In this instance, with a lot of money becomes a lot of trust, a lot of responsibility. So, with them putting that much trust in me, I think I have a duty to give them a return on their investment, because at the end of the day, it's an investment. They're investing in me as a player and they pick the running back as a third pick in the NFL draft, which hasn't happened for a long time.

"So, with great power comes a great responsibility. I'm going to make sure that I do right by them and do right by myself because, at the end of the day, I want to do the best that I can. I hold myself to a certain standard. So, I'm coming into this league ready to compete, ready to dominate and, shoot, do what I got to do to make this organization look good and make myself look good. So, I take their trust in me very seriously and I'm going to make sure I give them return on their investment."

It's a great strategy - if you can execute it.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 8:00 PM.