Rob Gronkowski Opens Up About His Love For Partying, Says It Makes Him A Better Player

Rob Gronkowski is one of the NFL’s most unstoppable players, but the New England Patriots All-Pro tight end said he’s got an interesting off-the-field practice that makes him a better player — partying.

The famously fun-happy Gronkowski said his penchant for partying helps him to focus more on the field. The tight end talks about his lifestyle in a new book, It’s Good to be Gronk, and this week reflected on how much he loves to party.

“It makes you get that itch to go back out. You go out and get refreshed, and it just makes you want to go back out on that practice field and keep going hard,” Gronkowski said Friday on CBS This Morning.

“When you get that itch, when you’re working for like 20 days in a row, you’re out on the practice field just grinding, you want to go out once and a while,” he said.

While he has helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl title and generally dominated the league, Rob Gronkowski has also suffered through a difficult tenure in the NFL. He’s been sidelined by a number of injuries, with a total of six operations.

But he enjoyed a stellar season in 2014, becoming one of only two unanimous picks for the All-Pro team and earning an ESPY for best comeback athlete.

“You build up, you gain all your muscles, you’re in shape and then all the sudden, boom, you have to start from stage one,” Gronkowski said. “You’ve got to rebuild up all the muscles. It’s like you’re a kid again. You’re lifting three pounds on the first week after surgery and stuff.”

Despite the setbacks, Gronk hasn’t lost any of his enthusiasm for the game, which teammates say is infectious.

“Gronk is a one of a kind person, player and friend,” said Tom Brady in a statement to CBS News. “He is one of the most positive people I have ever been around and he loves to have fun. What you see is what you get and whether he is dancing, singing, laughing, or spiking, he is true to himself.”

But Rob Gronkowski is still having fun off the field. After a Patriots fan wrote a tongue-in-cheek romance novel called A Gronking to Remember, the tight end actually appeared in a fake movie trailer for the story. He and Charlotte McKinney appeared in the Fifty Shades of Grey inspired movie, which was produced by Funny of Die.

[Image via Getty Images/Robin Marchant]