Viral Texas 10-year-old ‘Baby Gronk’ gets D-I football offer
FRISCO, Texas (BVM) – Madden San Miguel, otherwise known as the viral football personality, “Baby Gronk,” has been hustling on the football field since he was in kindergarten. The 10-year-old fourth-grader from Texas, who will graduate high school in the Class of 2031, has been catching the attention of D-I football programs.
Madden has been making unofficial visits to D-I schools and has already taken photos in uniform at Texas Tech, LSU and Oklahoma State. Last week, Madden received an offer from the Arizona Wildcats, according to his social media that’s run by his father.
PROUD TO ANNOUNCE 🚨 IVE RECEIVED MY 1ST COLLEGE OFFER FROM ARIZONA @ArizonaFBall @Ballhawk__8 @CoachPaopao pic.twitter.com/R77zI115gQ
— BABY GRONK (@BabyGronk5) April 11, 2023
Here are the rules for recruiting that are specific to young football players, according to NCSA College Recruiting:
“If the coach is truly interested in that recruit, they can extend a verbal scholarship offer. A verbal offer is a non-legally binding scholarship offer, and college coaches can extend verbal offers to a recruit of any age. It’s essentially a way for the coach to say, ‘I’m reserving a spot on my team for you.’ However, because verbal offers aren’t legally binding, coaches—and athletes—can back out of them at any point.”
Offers like this are what Madden has been training for ever since he learned how to walk. The youth star has trained at facilities to work on his route running and footwork. He was even pushing sleds at 6 years old. He’s also done workouts with NFL players, including with Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard.
“Can’t show no emotion (in order to succeed so) the first thing I did was break him,” Madden’s father said on the Bring The Juice Podcast earlier this week. “He was about 6-7 years old and I said, ‘You’re going to jump on this wood box and you ain’t gonna make it. You are going to hit your shins and they are probably going to bleed a little, but you’re going to do it.’ And he didn’t question me. He jumped on that thing. He didn’t make it – blood on the shins. I said, ‘That’s pain, let’s go.’”
Madden told NFL Total Access that he can play all positions, from tight end to running back to quarterback. So far, he’s averaging six touchdowns a game. Barstool Sports shared a photo of his stats: he recorded 7,000 rushing yards, 4,500 receiving yards and 300 touchdowns in his first two years of tackle football.
“I’m trying to make him the most versatile football player to ever exist,” Madden’s father told Whistle.
Madden’s father also said on the Spearatics by SSN Podcast that Madden trains five days a week and eats certain foods to stay in shape. Elementary school highlights of the 5-foot, 115-pounder are hard to come across, but videos often show that he’s great at catching.
Even former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart has previously stated that, “This kid is special” and to “start the recruiting now.”
There are a lot of eyes on Madden – even the director of recruiting for Texas football, Brandon Harris, follows him on Twitter.
In terms of his future outside of just football, Madden has a bright outlook in the NIL space as well. He has over five million views across videos featuring him on YouTube. He also has over 300,000 followers on Instagram. After getting a deal with Champs Sports, he was considered to be the youngest football player to ever get an NIL deal. He’s brought in over $50,000 and has been seen driving up in a Lamborghini to a football camp.
