Rob Gronkowski has done plenty of wind sprints in a career that finds him reunited with quarterback Tom Brady and vying for his fourth Super Bowl title on Sunday.
But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end did a lot less running before this season, thanks to a ruse he pulled on Coach Bruce Arians and the rest of the coaching staff. (Watch the clip below.)
In a fun Zoom interview with Super Bowl media on Monday, Gronkowski said he found a way to fudge on the offseason workouts the team required him to videotape and send in.
“I tricked them,” he said, laughing.
He said he filmed himself running the sprints in several shirts on the same day. He’d then send separate videos of himself wearing the various shirts as if he’d completed multiple practice sessions.
“He hasn’t had a clue to this day that I was tricking him about half the time,” Gronk said of his coach.
Boston Herald football writer Andrew Callahan declared Gronkowski a “meathead genius” for the cheat.
Calling all HuffPost superfans!
Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost’s next chapter