EXCLUSIVE: Ex-NFL Fullback Chris Gronkowski Opens Up on Booming Ice Shaker Business, Alex Rodriguez’s Key Role and His Brother’s Equation With Tom Brady

36-year-old Chris Gronkowski made his NFL debut in 2010 with the Dallas Cowboys after playing college football with the University of Maryland and the University of Arizona. After spending a year with the Cowboys, Chris moved to the Colts, followed by a year with the Broncos, and finally one year with the San Diego Chargers (now Los Angeles Chargers).

Owing to an injury-plagued career, Chris had to part ways with the NFL after being waived with an injury settlement by the Chargers. Shortly after retiring, Chris shifted his focus to the world of business and started the iconic Ice Shaker, which found the interest of MLB icon Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Mark Cuban on Shark Tank.

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Notably, Chris is from a family of athletes, with his great grandfather Ignatius Gronkowski being in the Olympic cycling team, his father, Gordon, an offensive guard at Syracuse, his brother Gordie, who pursued a career in baseball, and finally his other three brothers, Dan, Rob and Glenn all active in the realm of football, with Rob Gronkowski being the most popular and also a silent investor in Ice Shaker.

Before we start, let me just introduce Chris to you. He’s a former NFL fullback who’s played, for the Cowboys, Colts, Broncos, and Chargers. And I think he’s proven that expertise extends beyond athletics. He’s become a successful entrepreneur founding Ice Shaker, a company that offers your protein drinks cold for over 30 hours. His business acumen and dedication to his craft have not gone unnoticed as he landed a deal with Mark Cuban and Alex Rodriguez after appearing on Shark Tank. EssentiallySports welcomes Chris, a true embodiment of passion and drive.

Okay, I think I can jump right into it. Can you tell us about your background? How did you get like, how did you decide to like, you know, quit the NFL and switch to entrepreneurship?

Yeah, that’s a good question. Definitely did not quit. The NFL, unfortunately, people say the NFL stands for not for long, which is pretty accurate. So ended up getting four credited seasons. For me was great. The average is less than three ended up getting pension retirement benefits. And I ended up getting hurt in camp. I got released with an injury settlement. I tried to come back, rupture my hamstring at a tryout and it was time to move on. At that point. There was really no one knocking on my door, trying to sign me, so stepped away from the game, and went into business with my wife first. She had actually started a business. In my third year, three seasons, three different teams, and cities, she wanted to find a way to work from home since you’d have to go to a job interview every year in a new city. And that led to an online shop really did well, started on Etsy, and built our website. And you know, pretty soon we were making more money doing that than it was in the NFL. So a great transition for me, something that I never thought I would be doing. I was doing this for about five years. And at that point, realize it wasn’t truly my passion. You know, I love sports. I love fitness. I grew up in it but in sports my whole life. And one day I was at the gym, at a plastic shaker bottle with me. It was warm out; I took a sip of it, and it tasted awful. It smelled terrible. At that point, I was like bad. There’s got to be something better out there. And there just wasn’t. So that was the point where the aha moment where I was like, I’m going to make the best bottle that I can not just for the gym, but really all day use for everything.

So I mean, Ice Shaker was something that you thought of by yourself. Like, it was like, “Oh, if you had that moment in the gym?”

That was it. Yeah. 2016 was summer in Dallas, over 100 degrees out that day. And the idea hit me, you know, there are other insulated bottles on the market. But when I tried to bring them to the gym, I’d have to like to put my finger over them and try to shake it there was not been blended up. So at that point, we were the first insulated shaker bottle to hit the market.

You come from a family of athletes entirely from your great-grandfather to your father and your four brothers. So I mean, what did it feel like to actually shift our business from something that you pursued so long back in college, and then even later?

Definitely, a tough transition, when you go from something that is truly your identity to, you know, not really being able to identify as an athlete anymore. So mentally, definitely a challenge. A lot of guys struggled with it. For me, the transition wasn’t as bad because I physically couldn’t play the game anymore. I had to walk away from injury. And also just because I kept myself so busy, you know, there was still purpose there. I had to wake up every single day. I was grinding, and I was working 100-plus hours a week. So the transition was a little easier for me. I did have somewhat of a business background, from going to school and getting my degree, but also watching my dad grow his own business. Now he started over 30 years ago, started a fitness equipment company, and used to go to the warehouse and deliver the equipment for them, install it, and watch them grow from one store to over 15 stores. So definitely was inspired by my dad as well and had him as a great resource as well, when I started my own business.

As is very visible in your Shark Tank appearance, your brothers have been a constant source of support for you. So can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Yeah, for sure. So, you know, since day one, they’ve been there to really help support the brand and get the name out there as well. Even though you know they’re not necessarily a part of it. Rob came in later on. He did become a part owner of the company. But from day one, they weren’t. So yeah, it’s been fun and we’ve done everything together as a family, we do have the fitness brand. So we work off of each other. And we help each other out as much as we can. Yeah, we do cross paths a lot with different customers and different opportunities. So whenever we can help each other out, we do.

So going back to the Shark Tank appearance, and the minute A-Rod and Mark Cuban said that, you know, they’re willing to take a counteroffer and buy a 15% equity. What was it like? What were you feeling?

Man, there was a cool moment. I mean, it really was Mr. Wonderful who came out with the first offer, which was shocking, you know, he always waits to the end and kind of lowballs him. So to get the first offer was like, man, yes, this is legit, kind of confirms you know, all those thoughts that you had about the product, you know, you know, what’s yours. So, you know, obviously, you love it, but you’re super biased toward it. So to see the sharks actually started to come in on, it was a great feeling. And then to have Mark and Alex actually invest in the company just was next level man, that’s exactly what I was looking for. And we walked away with exactly what we wanted. So a huge accomplishment, and it was kind of just right at the beginning to your six months into the company. So I just verified that we actually have something here that people do want. And, you know, it could be a really massive opportunity to grow this company.

And for somebody like A-Rod, who is an athlete himself, he completely resonated with your vision of the company. So that must have definitely added some sort of motivation for you.

Yeah, for sure. He got it right away. You know, he had a plastic shaker bottle I think he was having with him at the time, so he jumped on board right away and understood where I was coming from as an athlete. And, you know, was into offer almost right away. So definitely a good feeling to see a former player as well jump on.

So in 2018, after Shark Tank, after A-Rod and Mark entered the accompany the sales apparently went up by 3 million, which is a wow moment. So how much credit for that do you give to your appearance on Shark Tank? And maybe A-Rod and Mark?

Yeah, I mean, first six months, we did about 80k. So to do 3 million over the next 12 months is obviously a massive boost. So yeah, I mean, it’s a majority of its coming from the show. You know, you’re able to get in front of 5 million plus people within a one-hour show. And you’re able to get offers from all five sharks, which just legitimize the brand. You know, it shows that proof of concept, which tells everyone that’s watching the show that this product is legit. And you should probably buy it too. So invaluable, you know, it probably would have taken us years to get to that point. And we got to that point, you know, pretty much overnight from being on Shark Tank.

Which MLB teams today are using your product? Which teams, in fact, in the major leagues across the country are using our product?

So Major League-wise, we’ve had some teams come in and buy products for their entire team. Some of them like the Bruins, and the Green Bay Packers, came in and bought for the whole team. One year, the Patriots had in their locker room. So it’s been cool to see. We do have to license now as well. But for the most part, you know the guys are using whatever standard issue in the locker room. So some sports do like you’re not going to use an insulated bottle. So football could I’d use a squeeze bottle, you got your helmet on, and you’re trying to drink water as fast as you can. Same with hockey, you know, you’re not necessarily ever going to use an insulated bottle because it’s already cold on the ice. So you got to just use the squeeze bottles in certain sports. What we see is a lot of times the teams are buying them as gifts, we did just have the White Sox buy for their entire organization and for their entire team. So really cool to see. I don’t know if those guys will necessarily be using it in the dugout, but they do have them they will use them and their own personal use and their cars around town and stuff like that. So really cool to know that organizations like the product enough to buy it, not just for the players but for their staff as well as a gift.

I mean A-Rod is a massive, massive businessman, the way he’s transformed his journey from being an athlete to coming to the world of business. So what was it like working with him and having him through the entire company?

Yeah, so with Alex, I think we were his first actual product. At that time, it seemed like he was more into services like gyms, real estate, and stuff like that as well. So I think it was a little bit of a transition for him. He did a great job of promoting the product and really get the name out there and did our one-year update with him as well. About a year or two, though. Rob retired from the NFL and really wanted to be part of the business And I ended up buying Alex’s shares. So at that point, Rob wanted to explore the business world, I thought he was going to be retired forever and decided then just a couple of months later to unretire, so it was a really a still cool transition… Rob’s done a ton for the company. It’s awesome working with family. And he’s been able to put it on platforms that no one else could. So it’s brought a ton of value to it. And it’s been great having first Alex and then Rob on board at this point.

Okay, so you were asked to change the name. Rather, you were given a suggestion to change the name from Ice Shaker to Gronk Shaker, and you seemed quite against it. So what are your thoughts on that years down the line when your company is really doing well?

Yeah. So it was actually a question that I was shocked by, you know, I prepared for every question that I thought would come. That was probably the only question I didn’t prepare for. So I was a little thrown off it to me. I’ve watched the sharks over and over. Say that you don’t want to niche down too much, you don’t want to take away a certain segment of the audience by calling it the Gronk shaker. And that’s truly what you’re doing. You know, you’re providing it to a fan base that loves the New England Patriots or loves the NFL in general. And, you know, the NFL does have a great audience, but the majority of people don’t watch the NFL. So I realized that you know, especially New York Jets fans or Miami Dolphins fans, or Bill’s fans will most likely not buy the product, even if they liked it, just because of the name of the product. So I thought it would significantly hurt the brand overall, and was shocked that the sharks didn’t see it that same way. So definitely threw me off, I thought there was a very easy solution to that which was coming out with a custom limited edition, Gronk Shaker, which we did, we’ll double down on it, and we’ll make we have a really cool design we’re going to come out with a little bit later this year. And then, you know, at some point soon, we’ll probably do a Hall of Fame one as well. So definitely a lot of options there. But I don’t think the best option would have been to change the name of the entire company.

You’ve already mentioned this, but I was just hoping to get a little more of a deep dive into it. So A-Rod also mentioned in a podcast with Rob that he’s like the ‘sixth brother’, he or rather, he felt like the Sixth Brother when they’re in your family and which is another reason why when selling back the 15%. to Rob, he did not sort of take it to market and he had like a family and friends deal. So I mean, what are your thoughts on that? What did you think of it?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was super early on and was a great investment for him. So he did make a great return on it. The awesome thing with Alex was that you know, he did see the value in family. You know, he’s all about family and family values. So that was a big part of him allowing Rob to buy the shares. Now, at that point, there’s still a ton of growth potential left in the company. So he wasn’t trying to sell it. For the most part, you know, he did get a great return on it. But I realized that you know, Rob really wanted to dig his feet in. He really wanted to be a part of it. So he allowed him to get down to and to the business at a pretty fair valuation at that time.

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Talking about Rob has been, like, you’ve already mentioned that you’ve been very close to your brothers, but how’s your relationship with Rob in particular?

It’s been good. You know, he is kind of the ultimate promoter. So every opportunity, he gets to get the product in front of large audiences; he does a great job with it, you know, great examples are going on the new heights podcast, with the Kelsey brothers, right before the Super Bowl and talking about the product, you know, that’s just invaluable, the exposure to the brand, you know, you can’t get that from anywhere else. So, you know, going on to Jimmy Fallon and kicking the bottle into the audience is another great example of just content that you’re not going to see or get from anybody else. So yeah, working with him, he’s not in the day-to-day, you know, he’s a silent investor, for the most part, but then brings a ton of value, and exposure and social media value as well. So it’s been awesome, you know, he’s able to create moments that are just gonna go viral, no matter what, just because they’re, they’re so unique and different from anything else that people are doing.

You mentioned the Superbowl and Rob and slightly before the Superbowl was a massive announcement of Brady’s retirement and Rob and Tom Brady were teammates for the longest time. So I mean, do you have anything particular to share about their relationship and do you have any interactions with Tom Brady?

Oh, that’s kind of like the running joke. Actually never met Tom, up until about two months ago was the first time I met Tom. So yeah, outside of football, you know, it is hard to get Tom anywhere. So I only really seen him in the locker room. I was the only brother out of the brothers that played football that didn’t play with New England. So yeah, so the relationship itself. I mean, it’s two guys that have played together for so long and have great chemistry together. I mean you know, they did hang out. It wasn’t like they were hanging out every day or anything like that, because they both have such high profile. So you have great, great friends. I think they always will be. But yeah, I don’t know the ins and outs of it. Because I’ve personally never met Tom until about two months ago.

A-Rod and Brady are quite good friends. But do you happen to know anything about their relationship or anything along those lines?

No, I did not know that. You said A-Rod in Tom Brady. Yeah. No, I mean, I, as I said, I never knew I never met Tom until about two months ago. So I can’t tell you much about the relationship.

Okay, coming back to your Ice Shaker. So I mean, what advice would you have for gifted entrepreneurs who are starting out now?

Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of advice. I made a lot of mistakes. Number one piece of advice. I always tell people is, you know, first start small. Especially if it’s your first venture. I mean, if you’ve been doing it for a while, it’s one thing but this your first rodeo starts small. The first business my wife started, I think we started with $500 on our kitchen table. With a shaker still a small investment, it was significantly more than our first business because I could afford it at that time. But you know, we were running out of the upstairs in the house for that first six months, no warehouse, no employees. No, just as a side hustle. You know, I tell people all the time to find what you’re super passionate about. Find a way to start it as a side hustle. And then once it gets to a point where you can actually support your family and support your lifestyle, then go all in at that point. You know, at that point, you proved it to be successful. At that point, go all in on it and just keep driving it home. So start small, and be passionate about what you’re doing. And make sure it’s going to be successful. First, before you go all in are my really my three main starting tips.

What are your plans for Ice Shaker as time goes ahead?

Yeah, I mean, for us, we just continue to grow every year. You know, we’re always coming out with new products. We’re doing new partnerships, which is something really cool we’ve been really digging into this year. So we’ll continue to grow. I don’t even think we’ve come close to saturating the market with our current products. You know, just the shaker bottle alone has so much more growth potential. So we’ll continue to kind of just keep grinding it out. You know, every year you figure out new things, you make new relationships; you get bigger and bigger, and you get better at what you’re doing. And we’re in year six now. So you know, we’re pretty good at what we do now, but there’s still so much more that we can accomplish.

And that’s pretty much it for my end. Is there anything you want to particularly bring up?

No, that was awesome.

Thank you so much, Chris!