On Tuesday, legendary NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski announced that he would be retiring from the NFL at the age of 33 years old. Gronk has had a history of concussions and back problems, which are two injuries that can often result in shorter careers, but the announcement still came as a surprise to many that figured he would run it back with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers once again.
Of course, he may not be retired forever. This isn’t even the first time he has retired.
Regardless, today is a day to look back and appreciate all the memories Gronk has provided us. While the internet has become flooded with clips of Gronk dominating smaller, slower defenders before delivered an earth-rocking spike of the football, we’ve decided to appreciate a different kind of Gronkism.
His undying affinity for his favourite number; 69.
We don’t have concrete evidence of why he likes the number, but we have a PRETTY safe bet. For the sake of keeping this family friendly, we’ll let Urban Dictionary define that for you.
Anyway, here’s an ever-growing list of all the times Gronk has referenced or reacted to the number 69.
On top of all these moments, Gronk went the extra mile in high school while playing in a basketball game. Apparently he had the opportunity to send his side up to 70 points, but instead he decided to purposely miss a free throw to keep the score at 69.
“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.”
He even went as far as to tape the number to the back of his practice jersey.
Never change Gronk. Happy retirement, for now.
