Rob Gronkowski has always loved 69. Whether he’s scoring 69 touchdowns or wearing a #69 jersey to practice. He loves 69.
He even loved 69 in high school where he was a basketball player. According to one teammate:
“So we’re playing a home game and we have 68 points – now it’s not a blowout, but it’s not a particularly close game either. So he [Gronkowski] gets fouled and goes to the free throw line. He hits the first one to get us to 69 and the place goes nuts because he’s playing into it. On his next free throw, he purposely chucks the ball off the backboard and misses so the score would stay at 69 and then runs back on defense pointing at the scoreboard.”
Why did this man not stick with basketball? Far less injury risk and far more opportunities to score 69 points. NFL teams have scored 69 or more points twice in history. The last time is was done was in 1966. NBA teams score 69 points every single night.
It’s hard to imagine one of the most dominant tight ends in history choosing the wrong career, but maybe Gronk chose the wrong career.