Dan Gronkowski is the second oldest in a family of five brothers and, much like his siblings, has been heavily involved in the sports and fitness industry for decades. Raised by Diane and Gordon Gronkowski, the brothers were naturally competitive and interested in sports from a young age. All five brothers grew up playing a combination of sports including baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
Born in Amherst, New York, in 1985, Dan was very involved in after-school activities as a kid before becoming more interested in football during high school and eventually playing for the NFL. Now, Dan is a family man who uses his expertise in fitness to help run the Gronkowski family brand throughout the country. Read on for more details about Dan and what he’s up to since finishing up his NFL career.
The Early Years
As a kid, Dan loved all sports and became involved with basketball, baseball, football and even hockey. As he got older and started high school, he decided to spend more time on his football skills and he played two years as the starting quarterback and one year as the starting wide receiver for the school team. After racking up a long list of achievements, he was named Most Valuable Player and went on to play the game in college at the University of Maryland.
During his college career, Dan not only gained recognition for his talent on the field but also in the classroom. In 2006, he was granted the George Boutselis Memorial Award, which is given to the player with the highest GPA on the team. Two years later, he received the C.P. “Lefty” McIntosh Award for public service and was an honorable mention All-Star ACC player.
His NFL Career
After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in marketing, Dan was interested in furthering his education and pursuing a master’s, but he was then drafted into the NFL in 2011. During his first year in the NFL, Dan played with the Detroit Lions as a tight end and was able to complete his degree during the offseason. He then spent another three years in the league, during which he played with a number of teams including the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns.
Working with the G & G Fitness Brand
Now, Dan is able to put both his athletic skills and knowledge, as well as his marketing education, to good use helping with the family’s G & G fitness brand. Along with the help of his brothers and dad, Dan created the entire line of Gronk Fitness Products, which includes weights, exercise balls and cardio equipment amongst dozens of other products. His main role with the company is to run the brand’s marketing campaigns, but he’s always willing to help out his brother Chris with Ice Shaker.
Staying Active
Though Dan no longer plays sports professionally, staying in shape is very important to him. Working with the Gronk Fitness product line means Dan often needs to test the equipment himself to ensure that each product is Gronk-approved. He was inspired to create many of these products based on his own experience with training and working out.
Because his role as a professional athlete taught him so much about physical fitness, he can easily identify issues people may have with certain exercise equipment and was able to target and eliminate these when designing the Gronk products, much like his brother Chris was inspired to create Ice Shaker.
As a father of three children and the mastermind of a successful fitness equipment empire, Dan doesn’t have much free time. But, when he’s not in the gym lifting weights and working on his physical fitness, he still enjoys playing pick-up hockey and getting away for a ski trip.
Adding the Gronk Zone to Gyms Throughout the Country
Along with his marketing efforts and creative ideas for the Gronk fitness line, Dan travels to gyms throughout the country that are using or interested in using the Gronk workout equipment, and he helps set up an interactive area known as the Gronk Zone. Dan came up with the idea to include these types of areas for members of the gym to use as a space for classes that focus more on training to become an athlete. It’s a great and creative way for people interested in fitness to test out the equipment themselves and learn how to properly use each while training.