The man who turned his son into the "Baby Gronk" social media sensation wants all his critics to take a seat ... telling TMZ Sports they're just jealous because his kid's going to be set for life -- with or without football.
10-year-old Baby Gronk's rise to fame as a youth athlete has been polarizing to say the least -- some find it entertaining, while others view it as Todd Marinovich 2.0.
In fact, future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt voiced his displeasure over the Baby Gronk craze ... saying he believes "no kid should be training 'like a pro' until at least HS."
We spoke with Jake San Miguel about the negativity he's received as a result of the internet success ... and he believes anyone who has a problem with it is living in the past.
"It's a new era, it's a new generation," San Miguel tells us. "The people that are normally jealous of us is kinda older. They just don't get it. The times have changed -- Elon Musk about to move us to Mars."
"The internet is where it's at. All I did was made him a platform so if he tears an ACL or he doesn't make it in football -- which it's hard to make the NFL -- at least he has all this other money to start up a company or be a part of several companies by the time he's a senior."
Baby Gronk -- who boasts hundreds of thousands of followers -- has been trending all week ... after a TikTok showcased his meetup with massive LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, in which it hilariously claimed Livvy "rizzed up" the kid (she even hugged him).
We also spoke to Baby Gronk -- real name Madden (yes, because of John) -- and Jake about their big week ... and they both said it's just the beginning.
"The goal is to be a millionaire by senior year, with football or without football," San Miguel said.
Don't be surprised if it happens -- there's always money in the banana stand on the internet.