Rob Gronkowski Announces He’s Singing the National Anthem at College Bowl Game: 'I Got the Words Down'
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The four-time Super Bowl champ will do the honors — with a little help from some pros
Rob Gronkowski is pulling out all the stops as the host of the upcoming LA Bowl — he’s even singing the national anthem!
The retired NFL star, 34, confirmed in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show that he will kick off the action at Saturday’s bowl game featuring UCLA and Boise State by performing the song — with a little help from some seasoned professionals.
“I’m gonna practice,” he told Patrick. “I got the words down, but I’m also singing with the New Directions Veterans Choir.”
The four-time Super Bowl champ said he is aware of his limitations as a singer, noting that his former New England Patriots teammate Julian Edelman was less than impressed with his range when he recently heard Gronk’s rendition.
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“‘Bro, let me take 10 more shots of tequila,’” the former tight end quoted Edelman as saying.
Gronkowski shared that the choir will serve as “a little backup behind me, so they’re making me look good.”
As for the game, Gronkowski — who is replacing Jimmy Kimmel, who previously held the honor, as the host this year — said he is looking forward to his new role because the former incarnation of the bowl held special meaning to him.
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“It was the bowl game that I played my last game with the University of Arizona,” Gronkowski said about the Las Vegas Bowl matchup he played in between the fifth-place Pac-10 team and the first place Mountain West team (BYU) in 2008.
Now, the former NFL star is having a full-circle moment with his involvement in the game, which is at SoFi Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
As for his singing voice, Patrick tried to get a preview with little success.
“Can we get a sample?” the former SportsCenter anchor asked him, to which Gronk — who was once on The Masked Singer — pushed back: “Man, my throat hurts.”
After the radio host offered some unsolicited advice on how best to sing the notoriously difficult song, he told Gronk to “start out low.”
“Here’s the key, to be in the right key when you start,” Patrick said. “Don’t start up too high or you're gonna have a Carl Lewis moment where you get up too high and you can’t come back down.”
“Oh man,” Gronkowski then replied. “I’m gonna need you to come sing it with me.”
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