I'm surprised he's not wearing the goalkeeper kit in that picture, considering how much he likes putting up walls.
Nick Cousins and Radko Gudas of the Philadelphia Flyers kick the ball around before their game against the Pittsburg Penguins at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh defeated Philadelphia 4-2.
Not sure if he loves the game, but he's at a biggie... 🙌🙌 TE @RobGronkowski of the @NFL's New England @Patriots 🏈 is in the house! Enjoy the game, Rob! 👍 pic.twitter.com/vWbU5kkPnq— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 1, 2017
Donald Trump having won the election was not so bad, at least in the remake Back to the Future they will be able to do this: Doctor: What was the president of the United States in 2017 ? Marty: Donald Trump ! Doctor: Donald Trump ?! The reality show host ? You heard it here first !
"I'm excited to welcome my Tottenham Hotspur onto US soil!"🏈 @NFL star @KelvinBeachumJr - https://t.co/X1svXOfaT6 #SpursInUSA pic.twitter.com/g34sMezWLD— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 27, 2017
Add another to the list. @ColinCowherd is @LAFC's newest season ticket holder. https://t.co/lpzLHqdVv4 pic.twitter.com/NQRbbCcakI— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 13, 2017
That's a big assumption. A lot of Poles (and other Slavic people with that sort of name) came to the United States in the 1800s well before soccer was much of a sport. Especially in Eastern Europe. The biggest wave of Polish immigration to the US and Canada was in the 1870s and 1880s. I don't know about his family in particular but it is a good chance they've been here for a long time. EDIT: His paternal great-grandfather Ignatius “Iggy” Gronkowski was on the 1924 U.S.Olympic cycling team. Iggy was born in Buffalo, NY in 1897 to Polish immigrants. I'd say most of Rob Gronkowski's relatives to any measurable degree are American. They might be soccer fans but it is not super likely.
Yeah but those people also established clubs along the eastern seaboard and in NY where he is from and have been playing the sport for years. I'm sure Gronkowski wasn't ignorant to the game. I don't know but didn't he play youth soccer like everyone else post 1970?
That's a completely different point. You said " With a name like Gronkowski, I'm sure his relatives followed the game.." clearly implying that his Polish heritage means a connection to the game. That is very likely not the case. Rob Gronkowski was born 1989. He was child in the 90s and early 2000s. There is a good chance that he played soccer as a child as did almost every other kid. (Especially as sports-oriented as his family seems to be. All five boys in the family made it pro in sports.) The vast majority of the other kids playing soccer at that time period did not have Polish surnames. BTW, he grew up in the Buffalo suburbs which I guess is still sort of the eastern seaboard but just barely.
As a general rule though, its true. The game was established in the USA by many different ethnic groups who brought the game from their homelands and translated it to their descendants. If it weren't for my Italian mother , father , uncles and aunts educating me on the game, I would have never played or known about soccer. My parents were from Italy and didn't even care for soccer but they were the ones who turned me on to it. Even though they didn't care either way, it was the only sport they knew and were indoctrinated with. As far as how Gronk learned or started following the game, I'm not sure. How Rob Gronkowski Became 'A Huge Fan' Of FC Barcelona, Soccer .
OK, but most people of Polish heritage (and others) are pretty disconnected from their immigrant fore-bearers. In Gronk's case it was his great-great-grandparents who came from Poland, not his parents. I don't think you call can it a "general rule" for people with "ethnic" names. And why would it be more true for eastern or southern European names? I have mostly Scottish ancestors and my last name comes from the Scottish Marches area of England and Scotland. That is a soccer crazy part of the world. Would you assume that my relatives would follow the game? No, because you could probably assume that they came a while ago. Well, so did people with lots of other kinds of names. Saying that a last name is going to tell you very much about someone's family connection to soccer is just not very useful.
I'm from Louisiana (obviously). I was introduced to soccer when I started attending a Magnet school at age 9. Until that age I think the only thing i knew about soccer was Ladybugs with Rodney Dangerfield and The Big Green. It's somewhat popular enough though still dominated by white middle class. At least back then it was (late 90s).
Who would have guessed that the Trumps of all people would be the White House's first soccer family? Barron Trump's a Gooner https://t.co/OPVf5j9CUL— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) April 18, 2017 Barron Trump likes soccer. And @Arsenal. And @DCUnited too? https://t.co/fO3tyZ9bQd @realDonaldTrump #dcu— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 18, 2017
Julia Roberts liking on Real Madrid: Everyone gets a little starstruck sometimes. pic.twitter.com/FUS5Z3yWnb— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 25, 2017
Yep, I would think the vast majority of Latinos whose families have been here more than a couple of generations don't follow soccer counter to the media stereotype..
A lot of Latinos follow or became involved with the sport because of their heritage. Even if many of their families don't really know or care about soccer, their kids may have become heavily involved in Latino leagues and clubs. I know many players who did just that in California. My parents are from Italy and they hated soccer but because I am Italian-American , I also got involved with many Italian clubs as well as other ethnic players and coaches because they played and knew the game. I probably wouldn't have ever played or even known about the sport had it not been for my Italian background. That same thing has been going on with many ethnicities in America for as long as I can remember. This isn't a bad thing but of course the different nationalities helped the sport grow.