A muggy August afternoon in Foxborough set the stage for Rob Gronkowski’s first plot twist of 2016. One sudden pull on a deep route against the Bears, and he limped away clutching his hamstring. An injury so “minor,” the Patriots claimed, it would barely matter. But by week 3, when Gronk finally lined up, the stats told the truth. Zero catches. Fourteen snaps. Week 4 wasn’t much kinder. One lonely catch for eleven yards, and a thousand fantasy football owners screaming at their screens.

“Man, I know, I can’t even go to the grocery store without getting yelled at,” he’d later say, half-joking. “Then why did you draft me then, baby?” The slow return stung worse than the hamstring itself. Social feeds turned into complaint forums, each post lamenting wasted draft picks and shattered projections. Gronk shrugged off the noise. “It’s real football… If we get the ‘W’ and I have no catches, I’m satisfied, man.”

But to the thousands who had anchored their rosters to his name, those first weeks felt like betrayal wrapped in a Patriots jersey. Fast forward, and even though Gronk has hung up his cleats (twice), his long-time girlfriend, Camille Kostek, still hates fantasy football when asked how sports fans affect her. “I should say when sports fans would talk S**t about Rob,” she told almost a couple of weeks ago on Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“I think that I think the hardest part for me was this stupid thing called fantasy football, where people would like lose money, and they’d be like get mad at him when he was injured, and I was like, ‘these are real people.’ And they’d be like, ‘Screw you. I lost all this money.’” Being one of the toughest and reliable tight ends and a key part of the Patriots’ dynasty, Rob Gronkowski has had his fair share of injuries throughout his career.

article-image

USA Today via Reuters

Take his 2016 season, for instance. Gronk was returning for his seventh season of his career with the Patriots. That, too, after recording a couple of 1,000+ yards seasons in 2014 and 2015. No wonder the fantasy football owners drafted the former Patriots’ tight end ahead of the 2016 season. Gronk was reportedly averaging double-digit fantasy points per game (12.2) and was drafted in the first or second round in most leagues.

But the season wasn’t all glitter and touchdown. Neither for Gronk nor for the fantasy football owners. There was an unexpected variable at play. The hamstring injury interrupted his 2016 season, limiting him to just 8 games and 540 yards. And let’s be real—when Gronk was healthy, he was the most dominant tight end in football at his position.

Back in the 2015 season, despite missing some time, Gronk put up 72 receptions for 1,176 yards and racked up 11 receiving touchdowns. Meanwhile, the other TEs, like Jordan Reed, piled up 85 receptions for 1,125 yards and 4 scores. Clearly, Gronk was the best TE when healthy. But the moment that hamstring gave out, everything shifted. Every scenario, every expectation—gone.

At positions like wide receivers and running backs, one has dozens of players who can put up big numbers. But the tight end? Well, there are usually just 1-3 guys per season who consistently score like stars. Rob Gronkowski was one of them in the 2016 season. The guy could have averaged 12–15 fantasy points per game. But because of the tight end scarcity, the fantasy football owners didn’t have many fallback options. Thus the hate. No wonder Camille Kostek called fantasy football “stupid.” The silver lining? Gronk never paid any attention to outside noises. He didn’t just block out the outside noise himself—he showed Camille how to do it too.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Rob Gronkowski’s premium advice to Camille Kostek

Plenty admire Camille Kostek, but many have also criticized her throughout her modeling career. From industry pressures and claims of overexposure to the constant spotlight of her long-term relationship with Rob Gronkowski, Camille has repeatedly found herself under scrutiny. Take her role as a swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated.

In a conversation on Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari, the 33-year-old opened up about the criticism she faced after appearing in the magazine. “But did you know that when you become a bikini model, that makes people feel like they have access to your bikini body to tell you how you should and shouldn’t be,” Camille revealed. The Patriots’ legend’s girlfriend admitted that public criticism nearly robbed her of the joy she once felt about modeling.

Kostek revealed that she’d always been confident. But when strangers started picking her apart, she began scrutinizing herself in the mirror in ways she never had before. But then she told this to Rob, and somehow everything changed. She gained her confidence. She started shrugging off the public hate. “I’d be really upset about it with Rob,” she added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“And he said, ‘Camille, if I ever allowed what everyone has to say about me and my personality, about my character, about my injuries, about my career, I literally wouldn’t be able to get up out of bed.’ Like, he was like, ‘You cannot allow any of that to have access to your aura. Like, you literally need to get up and shake it off and like go out.’” Gronk advised her when he was still playing for the Patriots. Probably at the age of 24-25.

Ever since, Camille has followed his advice. She now believes that no matter what people say, it’s ultimately up to you to decide whether you’ll let it bring you down.