Rob Gronkowski is going to eat like Tom Brady

Rob Gronkowski isn’t exactly a poster boy for healthy living. That would be his teammate Tom Brady, whose aggressively healthy diet puts the rest of us to shame. But Gronk is giving Brady’s lifestyle a shot to try to extend his NFL career.

And he’s even making Brady do some of the work for him, according to Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald.

“Tom’s my chef. I told him I’m only eating them if you have them ready for me,” Gronkowski said. “And he said, ‘Deal.’”

Gronk is the best tight end in the NFL, and it’s not close. But he missed eight games last season with a back injury that required surgery. Meanwhile, his seemingly ageless quarterback continued to be at the peak of his game. That’s why Gronkowski wants to adopt Brady’s approach to diet and health.

“Just looking at Tom, seeing what he does every day, what he eats, talking to him, personally one-on-one, just learning about the body with him, just seeing how flexible he is, how pliable he is, how loose he is all the time, every day and ready to go, I just felt like it was the time in my career where I needed to devote myself at all levels,” Gronkowski said, via Guregian.

Gronkowski is working with Alex Guerrero, who is in charge of Brady’s TB12 Sports Therapy Center, to improve his flexibility and durability and avoid injuries.

“I just felt like I had to add on to what I was doing,” Gronkowski said. “Find a way that my body will respond so I can perform every day. Be in prevention mode for injuries happening.”

Gronk’s fun-loving persona isn’t all that consistent with Brady’s reputation for healthy living. While Brady is all the way into things like eating avocado ice cream and not drinking coffee or alcohol, Gronkowski said he probably won’t go quite that far. But there are consequences.

Every time Gronk drinks something that isn’t on the diet plan, whether it’s coffee or alcohol, he has to drink three glasses of water. We’re assuming Gronkowski is well-hydrated these days.

The program for Gronkowski includes resistance band work, deep tissue massage, and a strict diet, of course. It certainly seems to be working for Brady. If it keeps Gronkowski on the field for the Patriots, some avocado ice cream is probably worth it.