"Keep it real and you can become an inspiration like I did."
That is the underlying message of "The Underdoggs" – which was released on Prime on Friday. When you see that trademark Double-G in the title, then you know Snoop Dogg is the main character.
The movie was inspired by real-life stories from the Snoop Youth Football League, which Snoop Dogg founded in the Los Angeles-area in 2005. "The Underdoggs" is the latest movie that tackles youth football as only Snoop Dogg can. "The Underdoggs" warns viewers from the start that there will be excess profanity – and there is – but that does not take away from the movie's true message.
Football is the source of that inspiration.
"I think it represents positivity, unity and what's necessary," Snoop Dogg told Sporting News. "Some of these kids need that. It's all they have. Through sports and through football, you can achieve many things. It doesn't always have to be going to the NFL. It's more about achieving life goals."
Snoop Dogg's role in California youth football
The timing of the movie is interesting. There is a proposal for a bill that would ban tackle football for children under 12 in California that will be voted on by the end of January. California Gov. Gavin Newsome publicly promised he would not sign the bill on Jan. 17.
Snoop Dogg's rebuttal to the proposal is strong. Football is an inspiration for young kids in the Los Angeles area - and the Snoop Youth Football League produces results.
"We have 50 to 60 kids that made it to the NFL, from a program that was started years ago based off us caring about the kids and giving them opportunities, taking coaches who were ex-gang members, taking ex-coaches and single mothers and putting opportunities out there and providing them with the care they needed to make sure we stayed in their lives on and off the field," Snoop Dogg said. "Last year we had the No. 2 draft pick C.J. Stroud.
"That's just one of the kids out of the league, so I beg to differ when they say let's get rid of football and it's negative," he said. "We show all signs of positivity through football, and this movie is a perfect example because it was inspired by my football league and certain players from my football league inspired each character in this movie."
Stroud passed for 4,108 yards, 23 TDs and five interceptions as a rookie and led the Houston Texans to the AFC divisional playoffs. New England receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and Green Bay receiver Romeo Doubs are among the active NFL players who played in the Snoop Youth Football League.
"The Underdoggs" is based on Snoop Youth Football League
Director Charles Stone III put Snoop Dogg's vision together in "The Underdoggs." Snoop Dogg plays Jaycen "Two Js" Jennings – a self-absorbed receiver who is sentenced to community service in his hometown of Long Beach, Calif. He takes over a youth football team. Snoop Dogg is a Long Beach native, and the film relies on that giving-back theme.
It's a combination of sports movies such as "The Mighty Ducks," "Hardball" and "Little Giants," but it takes on some of the issues with youth sports as only Snoop Dogg could with a strong supporting cast that includes Mike Epps, George Lopez and Tika Sumpter. From the self-deprecating look at social-media obsessed athletes to the twist on the win-at-all-costs-nature of youth sports, "The Underdoggs" is an authentic take on the sports movie genre.
"The things that we chose for the characters were things that happened in my league in real life," Snoop Dogg said. "We had girls that played in my league. We had kids that come from poverty who lived in certain homes that didn't want nobody to know where they lived. We had superstar players on a team without fathers and direction and they were great kids on the football field but didn't know how to hone that into being a great kid in general. We had coaches who had foul mouths, but they had great messages in general."
As for the language? Snoop Dogg based his character off Kelly Garmon – also known as Coach K-Mac – who was an inspiration to several players in the Snoop Youth Football League.
"He was very vulgar, aggressive and passionate, but there was a message behind all the words that he used, and he was Batman to my Robin," Snoop Dogg said. "Certain kids you can't talk to like that. You have to know which kids and which players can accept that. Which players and kids you have to talk to in a different manner to speak their language."
Snoop Dogg weighs in on Name, Image and Likeness
"The Underdoggs" gets that message across in a unique way, and the goal for the Snoop Youth Football League is to continue to get players to the college level. Now, college players have more opportunities with Name, Image and Likeness. Snoop Dogg had thoughts on that too. He supports his good friend Deion Sanders – who is entering his second season as Colorado's head coach.
"The college coaches that have a problem with the NIL, I have a problem with y'all," Snoop Dogg said. "For many years, you ate off of us, and now it's our turn to eat so applaud it."
Does that mean Coach Snoop is looking to level up the coaching ranks?
"I will say that I won't take a job in the NCAA, so y'all coaches don't have to worry about Snoop Dogg coming to get y'all," he said. "Y'all cool. All y'all kids gonna come play for me anyway, because my NIL deals are gonna be way better than y'alls. It is what it is. Y'all can breathe easy."
