Comparing and Contrasting Gronk and AI

The muse came to me recently and spoke. She told me to write about a couple of retired jocks, Rob Gronkowski and Allen Iverson. I complied, and what you see is the result.

They are similar in that both rose to the top of their respective sports—Gronk with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Iverson with the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.

Gronkowski, whose NFL career began in 2010 and ended in 2021 (he sat out the 2019 season), won four Super Bowl titles: 49, 51, 53 and 55. Iverson joined the NBA in 1997 and retired against his will in 2010; he never won a championship. He did, however, lead Bethel High School to the Virginia state title in football in 1992 and the hoops championship in 1993. The closest he came to securing the Larry O’Brien Trophy was in 2001 when his Sixers lost in the finals 4-1 to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Both played two years in college. Gronk, a native of Amherst, New York, somehow landed at the University of Arizona. In 2007 and 2008, he played in 22 games, caught 75 passes and scored 16 touchdowns. A back injury kept him out of the 2009 season, and he entered the NFL draft in 2010. The Pats took him in the second round. Iverson was at Georgetown University in 1995 and 1996, carrying the Hoyas to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, respectively. Philly took the quicksilver guard with the first pick in the 1996 NBA draft.

No tattoos adorn Gronkowski’s body, whereas AI has an estimated 35. All, he insists, have deep personal and cultural meaning. I doubt you will be surprised to learn that Gronk does not wear “bling” but Iverson does.

Gronkowski, who is White, has never been in prison. Iverson, who is black, spent four months in a Virginia lockup after being convicted of “maiming by mob” in a racially tinged encounter at a Hampton bowling alley in February 1993.

Despite suffering a herniated disk, a broken arm, a torn ACL, a torn MCL, a sprained hamstring, a lung contusion and numerous concussions, Gronkowski never dogged it in practice. Coaches Bill Belichick (New England) and Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay) appreciated how this 6′ 6″, 260-pound tight end understood that game-day performance depended on preparatory work. Like it or not, part of Iverson’s legacy is his 27-minute rant to Philly sportswriters after the Sixers got bounced from the 2002 playoffs. When his dedication to practice was cautiously questioned, he responded (in part) thus: “We sitting in here—I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking ’bout practice. I mean, listen. We talking ’bout practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking ’bout practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last. Not the game. We talking ’bout practice, man.”

Both of these gentlemen were well paid during their athletic careers, but they differed vastly in terms of ability and willingness to manage money. The Pats and Bucs paid Gronkowski about $60 million in salary and signing bonuses, compounded by about $8 million in endorsements. He asserts that he has saved and invested all of his football earnings, living only on his endorsements and investments, and the television shows and movies he has been in. This is not to say he lives like a pauper; Gronkowski currently owns two houses in suburban Boston spread over 1.5 acres, to go along with a six-bedroom penthouse close to the beach in Tampa. He has a Mercedes-Benz S63, an Audi R8 and a Bentley Continental GT.

AI, who earned more than $200 million during his NBA career, was infamous for the way he wasted money. He once estimated his monthly expenses at $10,000 for clothes, $10,000 for restaurants and another $10,000 for groceries. How was that possible? He traveled with an entourage—which he called his “Cru Thik”—of as many as 50 people. Distrustful of banks, he stored cash in garbage bags scattered around his mansion; inevitably, some of them went missing. It was not unusual for Iverson to blow $30,000 in one night at a strip club. An enthusiastic but lousy gambler, he sometimes dropped $1 million in a night at Las Vegas or Atlantic City casinos.

Another blatant example of his fiscal irresponsibility was the time he landed at the Philadelphia airport, forgot where he had parked his car and abandoned the search. He just bought another one.

When Iverson’s career as an NBA player ended, he had little money left. Unable to pay a $900,000 debt to a jeweler in Georgia, he filed for bankruptcy. But it was never as dire as all that. He recently began drawing his NBA pension of between $1.5 million and $1.8 million per year. And Reebok—perhaps knowing of his profligacy—crafted a unique endorsement deal back in 2001 which included $800,000 per year for the rest of his life. On top of that, the very generous athletic footwear and clothing manufacturer will grant him access to a $32 million trust fund in 2030, when he turns 55.

With such obscene money rolling in, Iverson and his posse can continue to live like there is no tomorrow. But that, in my view, is just not the Answer.

Gronkowski has a friendly discussion with the back judge.

After one of Gronkowski’s four SB victories.

Gronk with the Tampa Bay Bucs.