With three former players slated to be among the NFL 2014 rookie class, Snoop Dogg talked to TMZ about the possibility of churning out dozens more NFL-bound alumni from his nonprofit youth football league in the coming years.
“Our kids, they go hard,” he said. “They know what they want in life. When they get to the position where they can go to the level they try their best. They really put in the work to get to the next level. I expect many more to follow that. In the next 10 years, I see 50 kids from SYFL play in the NFL.”
Earlier this month, De’Anthony Thomas, Kam Jackson and Greg Ducre were signed to the Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts and the San Diego Chargers, respectively. All three players played in the Snoop Youth Football League as children.
Of the three, De’Anthony Thomas was the only player to receive a nod in the draft rounds. Both Jackson and Ducre were signed as undrafted free agents.
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Current Broncos running-back Ronnie Hillman is also a former SYFL alum and was drafted in 2012 before starting several games in the 2013 season.
“They all got scooped up,” Snoop said in a previous interview with TMZ. “We’re very happy and very proud of these kids.”
“I feel good about the guys that are coming out this year, the year after…and the kids that are in the league right now,” Snoop added. “We got kids all over the SYFL that have that spirit to go to the next level.” TMZ reports that the SYFL currently has between 1,500 and 1,700 players and the rapper hinted at plans to implement a grade point average requirement for players.
When recently asked by TMZ about the motivation behind the league and whether it will attract other musicians to engage in similar work, Snoop said, “I don’t know.”
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“It is what it is,” he said. “I don’t do it to make people follow. I do it for the kids. I love these babies. No matter what city they come from, I love to have them playing in my league and try to go to the next level, become high school stars, college stars, and eventually NFL stars.”
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