NFL star Rob Gronkowski to release his own NFT collection

NFL star player Rob Gronkowski, popularly known as "Gronk," is launching his own non-fungible token (NFT) collection.

The NFT collection, which celebrates the player's four Super Bowl championships, will feature five different trading cards, according to a press release shared with The Block. 

The trading cards were designed by one of Gronkowski's favorite artists, Black Madre. According to the release, the "crown jewel" of the collection is the 1-of-1 Rob Gronkowski Career Highlight Refractor Card. This card commemorates all four of Gronkowski's Super Bowl Championships and is digitally signed by the player. The highest bidder will also have the chance to meet Gronkowski in person and attend a game as his guest

The collection auction will be hosted on NFT marketplace OpenSea starting at 7 PM EST on March 11. 

According to media representatives, Gronkowski was the "visionary" behind the project and was involved in the creative process. 

“With the rapid success of NFT’s across platforms like NBA Topshop and OpenSea, I wanted to take the business into my own hands and be the first professional athlete to launch my own NFT collection," Gronkowski said in a statement. "Now fans will be able to get a piece of the action and share these iconic Super Bowl moments with me in this all new digital format with my Championship Series NFT.” 

Bidders will be required to pay in the form of ETH, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. The auction will end on March 13. 

As The Block Research recently noted, the NFT market as a whole has seen an uptick in activity on the back of hype and specific activities among artists and technology. Taco Bell's recent foray into NFTs was one recent example of this trend. 

Editorial image credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com