How Snoop Dogg helped fuel C.J. Stroud’s meteoric Texans rise

A decade before he became the Offensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was honing his game in Snoop Dogg’s youth football league.

Stroud joined the Pomona Steelers when he was 12 years old and, in a recent interview with ESPN, credited his two years playing in Snoop’s Los Angeles-area league a decade ago with helping him on his path to a starring role with Houston.

“Being who I am and growing up in Southern California, you get to dabble in a lot of different cultures,” the 22-year-old Stroud, who grew up 40 miles from downtown L.A. in Rancho Cucamonga (CA), 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.