Gronk Geeks Out: Rob Gronkowski Confirms What He's Learned About Marvel For NYCC

The superstar athlete is in his collector era as he comes to New York Comic Con to put his new knowledge to the test. Published Oct 9, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023. New York Comic Con brings out all manner of fans across a spectrum of interests beyond mere comic books alone. It's an incredible annual gathering in which massive celebrities make noteworthy appearances, franchises announce huge steps forward with new projects, and creators, brands, and independent vendors bring their A-Game to collectors and aficionados everywhere. Now, stepping out of the usual realm of sports and athletic memorabilia, Rob Gronkowski formerly of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers is diving headfirst into the world of Marvel Comics as part of his next appearance on eBay Live. The stream will go live HERE at 4:30 PM ET. Gronkowski is a charismatic presence who is thrilled to interact with the fans who'd normally bring jerseys and collectibles for him to sign. Now, with him facilitating a live auction at the NYCC eBay Airstream, the Gronk will lay out the fruits of his training as he interacts with fans over Marvel comics and collectibles. Ahead of his stream, I had the pleasure of speaking with Gronkowski on behalf of ScreenRant, discussing the experiences of a star pro athlete diving into a realm very different even from his own respective experiences with memorabilia, and even how Marvel might already have a Gronk of its own. The Gronk Brings His Marvel Training To NYCC 2026 Thanks to guidance from PCB Hobby, Gronkowski was glad to announce his presence at today's eBay Live event at NYCC, at 4:30 PM ET. The timing is rather immaculate, at one of the biggest fandom events of the year, getting fans excited for Marvel collectibles just ahead of the most ambitious MCU release in years, Avengers: Doomsday. Now with the Gronk having caught the collecting bug, he confirmed to ScreenRant his prior Marvel knowledge as previously visited in promos for the event. With Marvel as a keyword surging at eBay's database, users searching Marvel 140 times a minute, and brand-new Marvel comics projects emerging, the Gronk gave some perspective from somebody just now fully getting exposure to the fandom. I'll tell you right now. I never knew that Marvel movies were based off of comics. I was shocked. I just thought someone created all these Marvel movies, I didn't know they were comics. I was at stage zero when I was learning about all this. I was so fascinated with that. I didn't know that and that's why I understand now that Marvel movie fans are comic fans as well. Just learning things like that is really cool and special. The fans at NYCC are going to teach me a lot. I'm not up to date with everything yet, but at eBay Live, that's what's gonna get me to interact with fans. Usually I'm teaching fans football, trading cards, who you gotta get. This time the comic fans are gonna tell me what comic books I gotta get, what the best ones are, how to grade covers, what makes them special. I'm gonna be caught up to date in New York City because I learn fast, I really do. Opening oneself to learning on the spot while being a dynamic personality is all part of Gronk's brand as he features at eBay Live's next event. With a particular soft spot for Spider-Man and Iron Man, he appreciates the human storytelling of each character, but without having the background of a comic book fan growing up and reading the characters. It doesn't hurt that one of these characters also crushed the domestic box office record just this year. In fact, he lays out his particular experiences what what makes his appearance at NYCC's event so special here: I'm very new in the comics scene, I really am, I ain't gonna lie. What brings me here is eBay Live. I did an eBay Live in Chicago over the summer, ripping packs, being an onscreen personality, I had so much fun doing it! I had so much fun connecting with the fans, we call it Gronk Geeks Out. We had a blast, eBay had a blast, fans had a blast. So we wondered, hey, how can we do this again in a similar atmosphere? Well, eBay asked if I wanted to do Gronk Geeks Out 2.0, but this time in New York City at NYCC, and I didn't really know much about comics. That's why they brought in PCB Hobby, they taught me a lot about comics. I was brand new, they showed me comic books, there's a series out about me learning from PCB Hobby from Florida, and I had a great time.I'm new to this experience, but what I'm not new to is eBay Live, and that's what it's all about. That's why I'll be at New York City Comic Con at 4:30 PM. We'll be doing eBay Live, giving me another chance to connect with fans. It's not necessarily because I've been growing up as a comic fan, or as a Marvel fan. It's me being a presence with eBay Live and now learning about the Marvel scene, the comic books, and having so much fun on eBay Live connecting with fans, and having fans get their favorite memorabilia through eBay Live as well. Getting into the scene was a bit more of an adjustment, but the Gronk knows why he's there, and knows very well what he's promoting, as the eBay Live event is poised to auction off collectibles like comic books, action figures and toys, custom arc, and various collectibles. While bringing up the nature of grading such as through PSA with comic books though, ScreenRant got the chance to introduce the Gronk to a very fun Marvel-related coincidence. The Gronk Meets Marvel's Gronk Introduced in 1980 with Marvel Two-In-One #71, the Thing and Mr. Fantastic clashed with the powerful Maelstrom, the Deviant/Inhuman hybrid, but his bodyguard with his own host of superhuman abilities including strength, durability, reflexes, and more. It's an obscure introduction, but one that sparked particular joy to Gronkowski, who'd not been familiar with the character before his interview with ScreenRant. Gronkowski: There's actually a Marvel charcter named Gronk? I'm enthusiastic just to hear this! This is amazing material, my mind is blown. Gronk the Marvel character doesn't surprise me, because I was a Marvel character on the football field, running defenders over, so this makes sense. What year was this? Waugh: 1980. Gronkowski: Oh so he wasn't named after me, that would have been cool. I was stroking my own ego, like okay, Gronk the Marvel character got named after me. But no, there was already a Gronk before my time, I thought I created the Gronk. I didn't know that, but now I'm gonna read into depth about him and maybe that's where I can say I got my superpowers from. There's a certain level of joy in being able to connect even with characters who aren't labeled as headliners in the vast worlds of Marvel and indeed comics in general. Sometimes it's as simple as sharing the same name, but the Gronk certainly has plenty of superhuman appeal of his own, his unique combination of size, speed, and power from his prime being enough not just to be an intimidating presence as a tight end against other players, but to allow him to claim the Gronk name for his own. Whether he pitches this to the MCU, or gets a graded copy of his own, remains to be seen as fans can geek out with the Gronk today at NYCC, at 4:30 PM ET. TV Show(s) The Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes Video Game(s) Fantastic Four (1997), Fantastic Four (2005) First Film The Fantastic Four First TV Show The Fantastic Four Cast Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby