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With over 320,000 followers on Instagram and 134,000 subscribers on YouTube, Baby Gronk’s online clout is growing. However, controversies have started to surface in spite of all the success Madden San Miguel (his real name) has achieved in recent years.
Recently, toymaker Sir Collect-A-Lot tweeted a story about how the San Miguel family will stop at nothing to advance the Baby Gronk brand.
“I’m not sure why Baby Gronk is trending, but one of his parents stiffed me for an action figure I made of him. It was before I started taking down payments (that’s on me), but they stole the photo I sent and shared it on social media and never paid me - I still have the figure.”
Sir Collect-A-Lot – real name Miles McAlpin – started making action figures after getting sacked from his travel-related job. Though he got his job back, he decided to turn his hobby into a business. His work was featured in the introduction of Rap Caviar’s show on Hulu.
It’s not the first time that controversy has slipped into the cracks of Madden San Miguel’s carefully-crafted image. Bad Brain Digital Consulting founder and social media expert Bailey Carlin revealed how Madden’s dad, Jake San Miguel, spammed him for exposure.
He tweeted:
“This kid’s dad has DM’d LITERALLY every single professional sports account I’ve ever worked on 10+ times. Sometimes hundreds. Sports Illustrated, XFL, Barstool begging to be posted. It’s the saddest case of vicariously living through a kid I’ve ever seen. Hope it works out.”
Despite those claims, Baby Gronk dominates Pee Wee football because of his imposing stature. He visited several Division 1 football schools that might want to recruit him. He has also posed for photos wearing the gridiron uniforms of Kentucky, Texas A&M, Purdue, Rice, Texas, and Texas Tech, among others.
He also attended XFL games of the Houston Roughnecks. His popularity prompted another internet sensation, Baby Diggs, to challenge him to a one-on-one matchup.
Madden San Miguel’s trending highlights and skits allowed him to spend time with celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Wahlberg, and Aaron Judge. He also spent time with LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne in what looked like a subtle recruitment pitch.
Who is Baby Gronk’s dad, Jake San Miguel?
In an interview with The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman, Madden’s father revealed that he aspired to play football as a living when he was younger. Unfortunately, an ACL injury took that dream away.
It is his unfulfilled dream of playing football that motivates him to drive Baby Gronk through countless football camps and unofficial school visits. Jake also uses the marketing wisdom he gained while working in the music industry to propel his son’s popularity.
He recently said the following about his son's aspirations to play football and whether it is realistic.
“A lot of people look at it like, ‘Oh, this man is crazy’ or ‘He doesn’t have real expectations for his son.’ I do. I say he may not make it, so you might as well have $500,000 or a $1 million to start your life out.”
“He might get a scholarship or free school by playing sports, but sports isn’t everything. It goes away. Sometimes it isn’t God’s plan for you. I tore my ACL. I didn’t make it. All I had was a sad story.”
Will Baby Gronk be a success or a failure?
Having success in the NFL will be Baby Gronk’s ultimate goal. Despite the fame he currently enjoys, the San Miguels are taking it seriously by putting in the work and eating healthy.
Jake San Miguel shared in the same interview with Wasserman:
“We put five or six days a week of training. He diets, he eats clean foods, salmon, and brown rice. He is in a routine. He’s a real athlete.”
However, what he said next drew comparisons to another project in the late 80s.
“He’s not a normal kid. Normal kids are emotional. They put their head down when they make mistakes, talk back to the coaches, they make noises, but he doesn’t do that. He has been trained and programmed since he was 6 years old.”
Football fans can’t help but remember how Todd Marinovich’s father structured his life similarly. Eventually, problems arose during his stint at USC, especially his drug addiction. Marinovich played sparingly over three NFL seasons.
