Chris Gronkowski on playing in the NFL, his younger brother Rob and being on Shark Tank

Image credit: Instagram @chrisgronkowski

Chris Gronkowski joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Dallas, TX. Chris is the CEO and founder of Ice Shaker and also the older brother of NFL star Rob Gronkowski. He talks about his time in the NFL playing for the Dallas Cowboys, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Denver Broncos, what it was like not being drafted, being the middle of 5 Gronkowski brothers, the moment that he knew Rob was an elite football player, whether or not he thought Rob would stay retired from the NFL, his experience on the ABC show “Shark Tank”, working with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Cuban, what fatherhood has taught him and much more!

On being one of 5 children:

“I’m still trying to figure out how she did it [raising 5 children]. I now have 3 boys, and 3 is a lot! Having 5 is a full time job, especially if you are playing sports. She fed us every meal from breakfast, she packed our lunches, she fed us dinner and we were not able to go out to eat. As soon as we could walk, we were out of control. My mom would tell us stories about how I would push the dresser over and block the door if we got sent to our rooms. I think I was 3 or 4 back then.”

On how they progressed as sportsmen:

“We’re definitely good. We were usually the best players on our teams. I think a lot of it came from being brothers and naturally competing against each other. We were always playing sports, our mom didn’t let us watch TV. It was always get outside and get that energy out. In high school, our dad realized that there were opportunities there and he got us a speed coach. That took us to another level. You can be strong but to have control of your body and to have speed is that number 1 asset to get to the next level. Without that I wouldn’t have got a scholarship. At that age, if you have the right coach you can really improve a lot.”

On how Football got started:

“Football didn’t start until high school. Even then it didn’t start until the second oldest Dan started. The oldest brother never played, he had no interest in it. My dad never forced us into it, we weren’t a football family. It all came about when people saw Dan, he was 6 foot 6 and 235lbs. Naturally everyone was like you’re playing football man. He ended up being the started quarterback and it was the coolest thing ever. I was sitting there and thought I got to be cool like my bro so that’s why I started playing. It was just the domino effect after that.”

On Rob in high school:

“The second he got into high school he was taller than me. He grew so fast, so he didn’t have the agility to control his body. But eventually he grew into it, at that point it was pretty impressive to watch. By his sophomore year (my senior year) he’s catching passes, he’s a featured player on the team. One time he scored all the points in one game. You could see that he was going to be next level. I do think that he is the greatest tight-end of all time.”

On playing in the NFL while not getting drafted:

“I wasn’t expecting it but I thought that there would be a small chance. As a fullback there’s maybe 1 or 2 guys that would be drafted, and I was hoping that I would be one of them. At the end of the day, it was almost better that I didn’t get drafted. When you do, you don’t get to pick where you go, especially late in the draft. When a team takes you that doesn’t really need you, you won’t start for them and it’s not a good spot. I went undrafted, so I could pick where I went. My agent picked a great spot for me, he knew there was a great chance I would get on the team if I went to the Cowboys.”

“Being undrafted is a one shot thing. When I went in, I did everything I could to be ready for that one opportunity. If you don’t perform then, you won’t ever get another chance again. You don’t want to be the only one in your family that didn’t make it, that was my mindset going in. I just wanted to play, I didn’t care where I went. Once I got there, head down and doing everything I could to be the best player that I could possibly be.”

On living in the shadow of Rob:

“It’s pretty sweet actually! I get all the benefits without getting my ass whooped everyday. As we grew up, it was about supporting each other and helping each other get to the next level. When you see someone get there, it’s just respect at this point. It’s a lot of work, every day in an absolute grind. It’s not a game, it’s a job and a very stressful one. To see him do it for over 10 years, I couldn’t imagine it for 5 or 6.”

On if Rob would stay retired:

“I thought he would. I know when I stopped playing, it was a huge relief. Football is the most stressful situation to be in. Any day I could be cut, I could be on the streets and unpaid. Every play could be your last play. I had to wear a mouthguard when I slept because I was grinding my teeth every night. If you were late to practice its a $1,000 fine or you get cut. It’s a crazy job, once I left that and slept in for the first time in 4 years, it was nice. Once you step away it’s hard to get back into that mindset and routine. He had a lot of good gigs and the money was still rolling in. But he went back because that fire was still burning.”

On how his business Ice Shaker got started:

“My wife has an engraving business, and she was getting a ton of these insulating cups coming in. I didn’t know what it was at the time but she engraved one for me so I used it. In Texas where it’s so hot it was pretty sweet. But then I had to go home and grab a shaker bottle that wasn’t insulated. By the time I got to the gym, the bottle was sweating. I realized there wasn’t an insulated bottle that could shake and blend. At that point, it was the simplest idea that no one has done yet. It wasn’t just for the gym, it was one cup to use all day every day.”

On being entertaining on Shark Tank and deciding to play flip cup:

“The flip cup was my idea. They wanted to do a fitness contest, but I wanted something that is entertaining. We would obviously win any fitness exercise, so we did something more fun. The producers at ABC didn’t want to do it because it promotes drinking, but we stated that we drinking water.”

“Originally you just have to send a submission video to be on the show. From there, it’s a 4 month process of the producers liking it, due diligence, tax checks etc. They want you to be prepared so it’s a good show, they do a lot of work. After it aired, the exposure from the show reached 5 million people. That turns into funding and it’s free advertising. From there the business grew. We could take it from one color and one size to take it to more colors and more sizes. First it started at sales of around $80,000, after Shark Tank it’s about $3 million.
It went from a side hustle to a full time business overnight. It [the exposure from Shark Tank] lasts more than just a day because of Hulu. Because it aired in October it fed into Christmas and New Year’s Revolutions. The pandemic definitely hit us at first, but now everyone needs a water bottle wherever they go. “

On his morning routine:

“It used to be going straight to the gym. But now with COVID it has definitely changed. We also had a kid during COVID, so now we are super careful. I stopped going to the gym and started doing home workouts. But you can’t do home workouts at 5am because it’s pitch black. I had to switch it up a bit and start doing stuff with the kids. When you are home all day every day you have to find things to do with them, I’ve started to do my workouts with them too. But now I’m waking up I’m crushing the most important things I’ve got to take care of for work. I then wake the kids up and try to get a workout in with them, try and get some energy out of them.”

On what he is grateful for:

“Electricity, my wife and my family.”

Chris Gronkowski can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

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