Legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has taken his career in a wide variety of new directions since his retirement from the NFL after the 2022 season. But Brady is not the only Patriots legend enjoying a varied and often surprising post-football career.
Rób Gronkowski, generally rated as the greatest tight end ever to play the position in the NFL, played with Brady on the Patriots from 2010 through 2018, earning four first-team All Pro selections and, more importantly, playing in four Super Bowls, winning two of them. (Gronkowski missed the Patriots’ 2017 Super Bowl victory over the Atlanta Falcons with an injury.)
Gronkowski retired after the 2018 season, but Brady persuaded him to return to the NFL after a year off, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The pair of Patriots greats proceeded to win another Super Bowl, albeit in Tampa in the 2020 season.
Gronk Calls it Quits, But New Career Just Getting Started
After two seasons in Tampa, “Gronk” at age 32 had finally had enough. Not even the prospect of another season catching passes from Brady could lure him back. He embarked on a new phase of his career as a pitchman for a wide variety of products from T-Mobile cell phone service to Tide laundry detergent to USAA, an insurance company that serves members of the military and their families.
The six-foot-six, 265-pound future Hall of Famer also handles in-studio NFL commentary for Fox Sports.
Now, Gronkowski is embarking on a whole new career direction, expanding his career horizons from football and product endorsements to — auto racing.
But Gronk will not be getting behind the wheel. Instead, the five-time Pro Bowl pick has been tabbed to serve as “grand master” at the Snake Pit — a music event that takes place on the infield of Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the running of the annual Indy 500, one of the premier events in professional auto racing.
The 2025 event will be the 109th running of the Indy 500, but the Snake Pit has been around since the 1950s, in various incarnations.
A densely packed spectator area originally located at Turn One of the speedway infield, the “Pit” quickly became notorious for the rowdiness and heavy alcohol consumption of the race fans who gathered there.
Rowdy Snake Pit Reborn as Music Festival
In 1975, race organizers allowed cars to park in the Snake Pit area, in hopes that doing so would crowd out spectators and reduce the chaos in the area. But the ploy backfired and in 1980 the Snake Pit crowd got so out of hand that one fan was killed when run over by a car. The organizers then installed bleachers at Turn One, but fans just moved to Turn Four, creating a whole new Snake Pit area.
Eventually a police crackdown put an end to the Snake Pit, but in 2010 new owners brought it back — this time as a corporate-sponsored dance music mini-festival.
In 2025, Gronk will serve as the ceremonial overseer of the event.
“Not only do I get to attend my first-ever Indy 500, I’ll do it in style as the grand marshal of the legendary Indy 500 Coors Light Snake Pit,” Gronkowski said, according to a press release. “This is one of the coolest combinations of sports and music out there and in the ultimate venue. I’m ready to get the party started and celebrate the biggest race in the world.”
