New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has always had a special appreciation for the number 69. It goes back to high school, when Gronk reportedly deliberately missed a free throw attempt in order to keep his team’s score at 69.

Chuck Swierski, Gronkowski’s high school coach at Buffalo’s Williamsville North High School, shared the anecdote, via Mark Dondero of WPRI.

… Swierski [said], “So we’re playing a home game and we have 68 points – now it’s not a blowout, but it’s not a particularly close game either. So he [Gronkowski] gets fouled and goes to the free throw line. He hits the first one to get us to 69 and the place goes nuts because he’s playing into it. On his next free throw, he purposely chucks the ball off the backboard and misses so the score would stay at 69 and then runs back on defense pointing at the scoreboard.”

Gronkowski’s reverence for the number 69 continues to this day. In 2014, during a joint practice with the Chargers in San Diego, the Patriots didn’t have numbers on their practice jerseys for some reason. That was no problem for Gronk, who took matters into his own hands.

This season, Gronkowski scored his 69th career touchdown. It was a milestone he was certainly looking forward to reaching.

Gronk on his next touchdown being the 69th of his career and he couldn't be more excited,..@RobGronkowski #Patriots pic.twitter.com/w1KOfWhWy0 — Chad Amaral (@chad_amaral) October 24, 2016

Never change, Gronk.