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Back in November, rumors started to swirl concerning Rob Gronkowski’s future, who managed to rack up some insane numbers during his time in the NFL despite being plagued by injuries over the course of his nine-year career.
Despite recent reports to the contrary, our worst fears were realized over the weekend when the tight end announced he’d decided to retire in an Instagram post where he thanked everyone who supported him since he was scooped up with the 42nd pick in the draft all the way back in 2010.
Gronk played college football at the University of Arizona, where he got into his fair share of shenanigans—like the time he took on eight frat dudes after they accused him of being Mr. Steal Your Girl.
It appears Bill Belichick was aware of Gronk’s reputation before he decided to draft him, and according to Business Insider, he made sure to do his due diligence prior to picking him up.
Earlier this week, Ryan Russilo chatted with Bill Simmons and revealed Belichick made a phone call to Mike Stoops—who was Gronk’s coach at Arizona—to ask him a hilariously blunt question about the tight end’s personality:
“He’s like, ‘Alright, what’s the deal with this Gronk guy? This guy an asshole or what?'” Belichick said to Stoops, according to Russillo.
“[Stoops] is like, ‘No! He’s a big teddy bear. He’s unbelievable. You’re gonna love him. You’re gonna love having him around. All he cares about it is winning. He’s absolutely everything you’d want in a guy.'”
Belichick reportedly responded, “Alright, cool,” and ended the conversation.
Classic Bill.