A decade before he was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, CJ Stroud was honing his game in Snoop Dogg’s youth football league.
Stroud joined the Pomona Steelers at age 12. In a recent interview with ESPNsaid playing two years in Snoop’s Los Angeles Regional League 10 years ago helped him on his path to starring for the Houston Texans.
“Growing up in Southern California, I was exposed to a lot of different cultures,” Stroud, 22, who grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles, told ESPN. “I’m able to appreciate people for who they are. I can relate to people really well. God has given me that skill.”
“I was very competitive and I wanted to win, so I thought, ‘I need to be a leader and find a way to relate to these guys.’ That was my first step. It was good to learn that this is how you build a brotherhood. I didn’t think about it at the time, but now that I’m older, that’s what it was.”
Stroud’s mother, Kimberly, admitted in the article that she was initially apprehensive about her son joining the league of rap legends.
“When I went to the actual practice, [we] “I found everyone to be professional and great people, so don’t judge someone by their appearance,” Kimberly Stroud said. “The Snoop Dogg League has been extremely helpful in CJ’s journey.
“It took a village to raise CJ Stroud, and not just his mother. It was primarily God, but He sent people our way to help CJ on his journey, and the Snoop Dogg League was one of them.”
The league was founded in 2005 for kids ages 5 to 13 and has more than a dozen teams participating, with a seven-game season culminating in a “Snooper Bowl” where the two finalists face off against each other.
“Kids in other areas didn’t have footballs that their moms could afford,” Snoop Dogg told ESPN. “But we also opened it up to other kids, and the idea at the beginning was to help the inner city and give them a chance to play.”
Stroud was a standout at Ohio State before being selected by the Texans with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The rookie quarterback threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the Texans to their first playoff appearance since 2019.
“What’s special is [Stroud] “That’s exactly what we should be raising our kids to be,” the rap icon told ESPN. “Good students, good athletes, respecting their elders and their parents, being a good listener. CJ was a good listener, and that’s why he’s such a great leader on the football field.”
“I like getting information from him because he’s the future. To be able to continue to interact and work with young people is a gift for me and I’m glad that my football league has produced that.”
