From an NFL player to a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, the journey of Chris Gronkowski has been phenomenal. Though he wasn’t as revolutionary as his brother Rob Gronkowski, he ensured that his talents outside the gridiron shone better than the rest. For someone who’s a big-time businessman now, he sure seems to have stern morals when it comes to NIL money being given to college athletes.

Shedeur Sanders, the QB for the Colorado Buffaloes, is the highest-paid college athlete with an NIL valuation of over a staggering $4.7 million. He’s just 22 years old, and he’s already a millionaire with brand partnerships with companies like ‘Beats By Dre’, Google, and even 5430 Alliance. Furthermore, with more and more athletes coming into college football every day, the money that is being offered to these players through the NIL policy has raised a huge question mark on whether the greed for the green ruins the magic of the sport or not. As per Chris Gronkowski, there needs to be certain measures in place for the ethical distribution of these huge heaps of money.

Chris Gronkowski expresses qualms about millionaire college athletes

In an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, the former full-back for the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Gronkowski came on to the ‘Dual Threat Show’ and spoke in length to us about his thoughts on the NIL policy in college football. The founder of ‘Ice Shaker’ revealed how it’s a two-edged sword and while it’s a boon for underprivileged college athletes, it can also lead to a different sort of mentality that focuses more on the cash rather than taking the ball to the other end of the field.

As per Chris, giving a million dollars to a “16 or 17-year-old” will only cause problems and serve as a major distraction from the actual career on the field. He further provided a solution to this sort of situation and said, “I think there should be something tied to it with education. You can get this million dollars to come to Ohio State, but you don’t get half of it until you graduate. You know, I think there’s got to be something in there that keeps these kids committed.” The strongest of the Gronk brothers believes that there should be a high emphasis on education along with sports since that ensures the “grind” continues. Here’s how he narrated his experiences of his mom, motivating all the siblings to give equal importance to the books along with the boots.

“We were A students!”, Chris Gronkowski reveals

If you’re a football fan in the slightest, then the name of the ‘Gronk brothers won’t be lost on you. With all 5 of the Gronkowski siblings being involved with sports in one way or the other, their parents probably burst with pride each and every day. But the road to glory hasn’t been easy for them since the parents had to tame the 5-hot-headed brothers and at the same time, teach them the value of a strong sense of education.

According to Chris, their dad was the one who played a dominant hand in putting them within the sports pipeline, but their mom was the one who made sure their grades were up to the mark. He said, “My mom did a great job with this. My mom was really the one that made sure that we had our homework done, that we were doing well in school and accelerating there, and we all did. Even though we were such a big sports family, she actually put education and our homework first before sports.” Thus, even the biggest sporting family in the NFL valued education and hard work over money or hypothetical ‘NIL policies, which may or may not meddle with the spirit of the game in the coming years.