Gronk unveils plans for his next chapter -- and his newest vice is all about living pain-free

Three-time Super Bowl Champion and notorious partyboy Rob Gronkowski has a new vice — and yes, it involves that plant.

But before you jump to conclusions, the new Gronk era will involve nothing nefarious — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

On Tuesday, the recently retired tight end for the New England Patriots announced that he will be partnering up with CBDMEDIC maker Abacus Health to create a new recovery-focused product line set to hit shelves in 2020.

Coming off of a rough end to both physically and mentally to his football career, Gronk knew he needed to take the time, space and proper adjustments to his life and health regime in order to get himself back into a pain-free way of living:

“I needed to recover, I was not in a good place. Football was bringing me down and I didn’t like it. I was losing that joy in life … I was fighting through it and I knew what I signed up for and I knew what I was fighting through. I knew I just had to fix myself. And I believe I have the tools, I have the people around me. I have the CBDMEDIC team around me now to help me to deal with my pain whenever need it, during a workout, whatever it is so that I can use the most safe alternative [method] for myself. I believe i have great people around me to get to where I need to get to in life. and I am very satisfied with where I am in life now.”

CBDMEDIC, which Gronk says was first introduced to him by his father, uses active OTC drug ingredients in combination with CBD-rich hemp oil to create all-natural topical medications to aid with pain relief and other ailments:

“I immediately made CBDMEDIC part of my recovery and now for the first time in more than a decade, I am pain free and that is a big deal.

I only wish I knew about CBDMEDIC while I was playing. It would have made a huge difference for me during my playing career. I want the same opportunity for my friends and teammates out there. That’s why I’m advocating for CBD to be acceptable for all players to be used for recovery.

CBDMEDIC was so life changing for me that I’m now on a mission to help other people recover from pain using CBD by partnering with Abacus Health, a leader in the CBD topical space. Together we’ll be launching a line of all-natural fitness oriented recovery products to help millions of people balance their active lifestyle with a healthy recovery.”

The new product line, which has yet to be named or given an official release date, will be U.S.-sourced (presumably to Gronk’s fancy, New England-sourced from Rhode Island) and non-psychoactive, as it will not contain THC.

Entering the business space is something that’s felt natural and plain old good to Gronk in his post-football career:

“CBDMEDIC with [investment partner] Perry [Antelman] and myself is just a great opportunity to keep me going. I didn’t retire from life … I want the joy in life again, I want the passion again, I want to do business — my whole family’s been in business and I’m enjoying it. That’s where I’m at in life and I’m enjoying it and it’s a good place.

We can have joy in other ways right now. I feel like i’m on another career path and fans can see me dong other things that I can be doing business-wise.

I’m going to start doing things that fit my lifestyle. My brothers and I, we have a lot of things on the table and it’s all going to be around the fitness-oriented health [space]. I love fitness, I love staying active — I believe it keeps me in a good place … I believe just having that active lifestyle keeps you going, keeps you rolling, keeps that joy and passion rolling. Moving helps you recover, it really does.”

Part of maintaining that active, healthy lifestyle means having mentors and friends that will both inspire and support you, and for Gronk, one of those people happens to be TB12, of course:

“I love talking about health with Tom [Brady]. He’s the healthiest guy in the NFL, hands-down, at age 42. You can’t deny that — you see what he’s doing, it’s unbelievable. And I am blessed and lucky enough to be learning from a player like that. And that’s why I do truly believe I have the right team around me.”

But if your favorite Patriots bromance has you New England fans banking on a Gronk comeback, don’t count on it — at least not anytime soon:

“I’ve got to have that desire again, I’ve got to have that passion, I’ve got to have that fire. And I’ve got to have that sustainability to know if I go back out there, that I can sustain it week in and week out. I’m not going to go out there and get beat the ‘f up … that’s not the way to live, that’s not the way to play football.

Physically? I’ll be ready, I could play right now if I wanted to play. I could run fast right now, I’m feeling good … Mentally, desire-wise it’s not there. My mind, my soul keeps telling me ‘You need more time off’ and when I feel like my body’s top notch, my soul, my mind, mentally and physically I’m ready? Then I would go back to the NFL. If I ever get to that point.”

So if you’re bumming over no longer being able to call Gronk ‘Number 87’ or your ‘favorite NFL player’ or any of the thousands of nicknames he’s conjured up among fans over his career, don’t worry — he’s going by a new name these days:

“Now? You can just call me Mr. Recovery.”