CJ Stroud’s early success in the NFL is being attributed to rapper Snoop Dogg.
Stroud, the second overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, had a stellar year with the Houston Texans. He ended the season as the Offensive Rookie of the Year while earning Pro Bowl honors and making the All-Rookie Team.
The quarterback also led the Texans to a playoff win in his rookie season, becoming the youngest player at his position to win a postseason fixture.
Stroud, now 22, played in Snoop’s youth football league as a youngster, having joined the Pomona Steelers as a 12-year-old.
He recently credited the two years he spent in the hip-hop icon’s Los Angeles-area league with his success.
“Being who I am and growing up in Southern California, you get to dabble in a lot of different cultures,” he told ESPN. “I get to understand people for whatever they really are. I’m able to kind of relate to people really well. God has blessed me with that skill.
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“I was so competitive and wanted to win, so I was like ‘I have to find a way to be a leader and relate to these guys.’ That was my first step … It was good for me to learn, this is how you build a brotherhood. I wasn’t even thinking about that back then. But now that I’m older, that’s what that was.”
Stroud’s mother, Kimberly, has also praised the league, although she admitted she wasn’t sure about letting her son join, possibly due to Snoop’s past notoriety.
“When we went to the actual practices, [we] saw how everybody was so professional and great people. So don’t judge a book by its cover,” she said. “The Snoop Dogg league was super instrumental in C.J.’s journey.
“It was a village that raised C.J. Stroud, and it wasn’t just his mother. It was mainly God, but he put people on our path to help C.J. along his journey. The Snoop Dogg league was one of those.”
Snoop Dogg Recalls What CJ Stroud Was Like As A Kid In His League
Snoop Dogg founded the league in 2005, inviting kids between the ages of 5-13 to come hone their skills. It currently boasts over a dozen teams, two of which meet in the “Snooper Bowl” at the end of its seven-game season.
“Kids in other communities didn’t have football that met the prices that their mothers could afford,” Snoop remarked. “At the same time opening up to other kids, as well, but the initial thought was to help out the urban inner-city and give them opportunities to play.
“It’s special because [Stroud] is exactly what we breed kids to be,” the rap icon told ESPN. “Good students, good athletes, respecting their elders, their parents and being a great listener. C.J. was a great listener. That’s why he’s translating on that football field into a great leader.
“I like to get information from him because he’s the future … So to be able to tap in with the youth and stay active, that’s a gift, and I love the fact that my football league has created that.”
Stroud went on to star at Ohio State before the Texans made him the No.2 overall pick last year.
He threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns in his first professional season, firing Houston to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Also Read: VIDEO: CJ Stroud Took A Brutal, Unwarranted Shot At Four-Time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers
