(NEW YORK) — With the Super Bowl on Sunday, it’ll reignite student athletes’ determination to one day play in the Big Game themselves. Statistically, just 0.00075 percent of all high school football players go pro, according to LeagueSide. NFL star Rob Gronkowski beat those odds and, speaking to ABC Audio, he has some advice for his fellow big dreamers.
His message to those who truly believe the NFL is their calling is: “Obviously, go for your dream and work as hard as possible. That’s the only way that you’re gonna be able to get to the next level.”
Adds Gronkowski, “Everyone’s good as you get to a collegiate level, then to the NFL level…You’ve got to put that work in and you’ve got to find ways to get better.”
While he stresses practice can make perfect because talent only carries one so far, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end encourages student athletes to also “take away the life experiences from the game.”
“Think about [in] football, how you came together in order to accomplish a goal and win a game,” he explains. “It takes 11 guys out on the field in order to accomplish a mission or to even move the ball down the field… Bring that into the real world.”
Gronkowski says listening to the coaches in addition to knowing how to work with and share the spotlight with your team is a measure for success.
“That’s going to help you in the long run,” says the Super Bowl champion. “We need to collaborate and we got to work together in order to get to another level in order to be successful.”
He adds, “I can’t do this job by myself. I need help. That’s why I always say: Take away life lessons from the game and apply them to the real world.”
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
