Four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski delighted audiences at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Monday when he spoke as part of Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall lecture series. In a wide-ranging discussion moderated by Anand Pallegar, the chief executive officer of DreamLarge, Sarasota Magazine’s parent company, the former National Football League superstar discussed his rambunctious upbringing, how he learned to overcome injuries and setbacks and, of course, what it was like to play alongside football greats like quarterback Tom Brady and to be coached by the legendary Bill Belichick.

Gronkowski—known as “Gronk” to fans—grew up in the Buffalo, New York, area with four brothers in a household dominated by sports. He said his parents had one rule: no punching each other in the face and no punching each other in the “cheese puffs” (his words). As a kid, he was drawn to hockey and baseball before shifting his focus to football and basketball in middle school. He admitted he was a “wild” kid whom other people thought would either end up as a professional athlete or in jail.