Rob Gronkowski Talks Being ‘Frugal’ During Rookie Year, ‘Understood’ NFL Stands for ‘Not for Long’

While NFL stands for the National Football League, Rob Gronkowski also believed it had another meaning for the players.

In a resurfaced clip circulating on X from his interview with Forbes in the fall, the former Patriots tight end, 37, discussed his early finances, including when he first joined the league and how he didn’t just expect to be in the league long-term.

The retired athlete — who confirmed in a May 2025 episode of the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast that he has “not spent any” of his NFL money — explained he used his $50,000 from his agent to set himself up.

“I just lived off my marketing dollars. I was living a low-level life. I had a condo with a roommate that was on the team as well. We’re paying $1,500 a month in rent while in the NFL … I was very frugal, and that’s how I got away with it,” he shared. “Not having any lavish purchases, the first couple of years in the league, and just banking away what I was making because I truly understood that the NFL, they say that’s what it stands for, is ‘not for long’.”

“I understood that, and I wanted to be set when I was done with my career as well,” Gronkowski continued. “I wanted to be set if I just played three, four years. I was cool with making what I was gonna make my rookie year with my rookie contract, which was $4 million. It was a four-year, $4 million deal.”

“I was like, ‘Wait, if I play all four, I make a million dollars a year, and if I put that in the bank and I just invest it a little bit, I can get a return of like $100,000, $150,000,’ I was like, ‘I’m set for life,'” he recalled.

While he was building a nice financial nest in case he didn’t last long, the four-time Super Bowl champion went on to have an impressive career in the NFL, playing for the Patriots for nine seasons and spending two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.