According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski did not violate the NFL’s gambling policy when he hosted a recent cruise.
“Gronkowski’s cruise was under investigation, but the league found no violation of the gambling policy.”
The issue had been brought up by Tony Romo’s National Fantasy Football Convention, who is involved in current and per Florio, mentioned Gronkowski’s cruise.
“NFL player Rob Gronkowski hosted a party cruise from Miami to the Bahamas on February 19-22, 2016. The four-day party took place on Norwegian Cruise Line, where Gronkowski’s fans and attendees can take full advantage of Norweigan’s famed ‘Casinos at Sea.’ Photos from the booze-cruise show fans gambling at the on-board casino.”
It’s unclear what Gronkowski’s punishment would have been if he was found to be in violation of their policy, but it’s a good thing that he wasn’t. Even a minor fine would in this situation be ludicrous, as this is much ado about nothing.
All pro sports certainly can walk a fine line with gambling, as an athlete gambling on his sport rightfully results in a ban from the sport and is any league’s worst nightmare.
But this point, the NFL’s larger gambling policy is hard to take seriously anyway, given that it’d be very hard to watch even a small portion of any NFL game without seeing a FanDuel or DraftKings commercial.
That’s much closer to a nightmare for the NFL than a star player hosting Miami-Bahamas cruise that has a casino on board, in the offseason, no less. Gronk’s cruise is long way away from anything the NFL should ever be concerned with, and it’s a good thing the league came to that same conclusion.