Rob Gronkowski

Gronkowski was born in Amherst, New York, on May 14, 1989, and was raised in nearby Williamsville. He is the second youngest son of Gordon Gronkowski and Diane Walters, and is of Polish descent through his father. His father is a former college football guard for Syracuse University from 1977 to 1981 and later founded a high-end fitness equipment business. He is a great-grandson of Ignatius Gronkowski who represented the United States in cycling at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and held five world records in the sport. Gronkowski's parents divorced in 2008. His four brothers – Gordie, Dan, Chris, and Glenn – all played collegiate sports, and later played professionally.

Gronkowski played hockey until he was 14; he then started playing basketball. He attended Williamsville North High School (WNHS) for his first three years of high school, playing tight end and defensive end, as well as freshman kickoff specialist, supposedly due to his having the biggest feet on the team; center in basketball; and first baseman in baseball for the WNHS Spartans. As a junior playing football, he recorded 36 receptions for 648 yards and seven touchdowns on offense, and 73 tackles and six sacks on defense. He was named an All-Western New York first-team and All-State second-team player. Academically, Gronkowski was in the National Honor Society, citing math as his best subject, and English the worst.

In 2006, Gronkowski moved to suburban Pittsburgh, where he attended Woodland Hills High School for his senior year. Initially ruled ineligible by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League because of his transfer, he recorded eight receptions for 152 yards and four touchdowns at Woodland Hills after the ruling of ineligibility was overturned. He was named a SuperPrep All-American, PrepStar All-American, Associated Press Class 4-A all-state, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Fabulous 22", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first-team all-conference, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) "Platinum 33", and a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review "Terrific 25" player. He was recruited by Kentucky, Arizona, Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Ohio State, and Syracuse. Gronkowski graduated from Woodland Hills in 2007 with a 3.75 GPA and 1560 out of 2400 SAT score.After graduating from high school, Gronkowski attended the University of Arizona as a Pre-Business major and played for the Arizona Wildcats football team from 2007 to 2009 under head coach Mike Stoops. As a freshman in 2007, he recorded 28 receptions for 525 yards and six touchdowns. His 18.8 yards per reception average was the best on the team and his receiving yards were a school record for a tight end. He was named The Sporting News freshman All-American, Rivals.com freshman All-American, The Sporting News freshman Pac-10, and All-Pac-10 honorable mention player.

Gronkowski missed the first three games of the 2008 season, but later recorded 47 receptions for 672 yards and a team-best ten touchdowns. Five of his touchdowns were scored in his first two games against UCLA and Washington. He was twice named the John Mackey National Tight End of the Week, including his performance in a failed comeback bid against Oregon, when he caught 12 passes for 143 yards. He set the school records for a tight end for single-game, single-season, and career receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Gronkowski was named an Associated Press third-team All-American and All-Pac-10 first-team tight end.

Prior to the 2009 season, Gronkowski was placed on the watchlist for the Lombardi Award. He missed his junior season in 2009 due to back surgery, which caused his draft stock to fall.